How Secure Is Your Work From Home Office?

2020 has changed the way that we work and live. The coronavirus pandemic has swept the entire planet and has affected individuals, businesses, and governments alike. It has made companies rethink the way that they operate, forcing remote working. 

With remote working comes a different set of challenges. Cybersecurity. There has been a five-fold increase in the number of cyberattacks that are occurring since COVID19. This is because opportunistic criminals are taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the home networks of workers. 

So what can be done to protect your business while your employees are working from home? 

Since this pandemic looks set to continue affecting our lives for some time to come, here are some measures that you can take to keep your systems safe from cyberattack. 

Protect Your Passwords

More so than ever, it has become essential to consider password management. This means getting your employees to change their password periodically to a strong and original password that has never been used before. 

Use IGA solutions to ensure your employee’s identities are managed correctly. 

Encourage Employees To Change Their Router Password

Many people will set up their home network and never change the password. Having the factory password still in use leaves a home network open to be hacked quite easily. 

Encourage your team to change their router passwords and to also install protection on their router. 

Check out this TechRadar article on how to do it.

Train and Retrain 

With your team working from home and having less contact with management, it becomes even more vital that you train and retrain your team on some of the cybersecurity issues that they will face. 

This training should include specific sections on how to avoid being caught out by phishing emails. There has been a spate of coronavirus themed phishing emails that will play on the fears of your team. Make sure they are kept informed about the latest scams doing the rounds. 

Use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)

With everyone working remotely it is almost impossible to control where or how your team is connecting to the internet. All of the sensitive information that they will be passing back and forth between themselves and other team members will be unsecure, leaving your company vulnerable to data theft and even ransomware attacks.

It is therefore essential that your team all install and use Virtual Private Networks on the devices they use for work.

Setting up VPN’s used to be somewhat compilated, especially for users with little tech know-how. Thankfully, this is now as easy as installing an app and tapping a button. Services like NordVPN or Ivacy have made it incredibly easy for users to surf the web securely making it very easy to adapt it into your IT system with little pre-configuration or initial investment.

• Check out NordVPN, they offer both personal and business VPN’s starting from just £2.86/month.
• Meanwhile, Ivacy are running an incredible deal for 5 year plans, at just £0.90/month.

Keep Systems Up To Date

It will be harder to manage the machines that your employees are using when they are at home. However, it is essential that your team all keep up to date on all updates to their operating system, antivirus software, as well as any work-related software that they use. 

Teach your team how to check for updates and have them carry out routine checks to their system on a regular basis.