How to Keep Your Personal Information Secure Working from Home
Telework has surged in the wake of the pandemic. With a huge portion of the workforce reporting for duty from home, more and more employees rely on online apps, solutions, and networks to keep them connected to their teams. This has led to a rise in online scams and security breaches. With a lot of businesses making the shift to digital as well, the market is ripe for scammers looking to steal private information or hack into company files and records. That’s why it’s important that you keep your transactions secure. Here are tips on how to keep your information private and protected while you work from home.
Use Corporate Computers
Separate work transactions from private or leisure transactions. Always use your work laptop if that’s possible. If your office works under the BYOD rule, though, be careful about using that unit for leisure activities. It would be best to use a different unit instead.
Install Security Solutions
Improve your security by installing apps with features like mutual authentication. If you manage a team, though, then you’ll want to take care of this for everyone. Invest in software that your entire team can use. Check the number of users possible before you pick a security solution.
Connect to a Secure Network
If you connect to any network you find, that’s a bad and dangerous habit. You could be letting other people gain access to your phone or laptop. Connect to the internet only through a secure network. Never connect through a free or open network. Most of us use our phones to check our work emails. So, even if you think it’s safe to use your phone instead of your work laptop, your information is still at risk. Avoid networks if you’re not sure if they’re secure.
Recognize Scams
There are plenty of phishing scams linked to the virus. You’ll want to be well aware of them, so when you see those emails in your inbox, you’ll know right away that they’re fake. If you can’t keep track of all the scams out there, though, no worries. Develop a discerning eye instead. Go over every email and if you find anything suspicious, don’t know the contact, or something strikes you as off about the entire exchange, check first. Confirm by reaching out to the contact through other ways like calls or texts or even messages on different platforms. If their accounts have been hacked on one site, it’s possible that you can still connect with them through other means.
Prep Your Team
If you head a team, then make sure there’s always an IT crew to provide support and assistance to your employees. Shifting to digital is challenging in a number of ways, especially if your staff is used to working from the office. It’s essential that you provide them with the support and security solutions they need to get their work done and protect their information. Send reminders, instructions, and have an IT team ready to help them install programs, watch out for phishing scams, and more.
