It cannot be denied that cybersecurity risks and working remotely from home go hand-in-hand. Remote working has gained prominence since the global Covid-19-driven pandemic. However, even if Covid-19 has become a regular flu, it has left a work culture here to stay-remote work. As such, even the hackers are looking for prey and making the best use of any loophole in IT infrastructure.
In the dynamic landscape of remote work, staying up to date on cybersecurity is paramount to safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining a secure digital environment. Remote workers can proactively enhance their cybersecurity awareness by regularly participating in training sessions and webinars dedicated to cybersecurity best practices. It is crucial to stay informed about the latest threats and vulnerabilities by subscribing to reputable cybersecurity newsletters and industry updates. Regularly changing passwords, avoiding the use of public Wi-Fi for sensitive tasks, and enrolling in a cyber security course for in-depth knowledge are additional measures that contribute to a robust cybersecurity posture for remote workers
Employees must be trained to follow specific guidelines to safeguard their data. If most of your employees work remotely, they must follow a few rules to keep your organisation’s data safe and protect the devices.
To prevent cyberattacks, there are a few tips that you can adhere to. Let us highlight a few of the most important ones in the following paragraphs.
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Select passwords that are strong enough and cannot be guessed
For hackers, it is a relatively easy job to guess your password, especially if you are using one of these most common passwords as suggested by ExpressVPN’s research. You will be surprised to find out how it is easy to guess passwords. So, you must not choose a password that can be hacked into easily.
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Installing updates
There are updates available for our device. So, if you get a notification, you must install the software, the latest version, and anti-virus updates. This will help you fill up security loopholes.
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Have a remote working policy in place.
As a team leader or business head, train your team members to adhere to a strong working policy. Also, train them in cyber security and prevention. While planning a remote work policy, consider the following-
- Data protection
- Compliance requirements
- Remote access control
- Information Disposal
- Backup
- Media storage
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Use VPN as added protection
In case you do not already have a setup, you can talk to your IT lead and discuss how to implement the software in your organisation. If you have a VPN set up already, ask your employees never to turn off the VPN while working. It is one of the most effective ways to ensure network security.
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Identify phishing scams
In the first month of lockdown, phishing emails surged by 667%. So, if you are working remotely, these are a few things you watch out for. These are sure signals of phishing activities-
- Remember that if an email is legitimate from a company, the organisation will have its email domain aside from its accounts.
- The spelling of the domain name must be spelt
- Phishing emails are rarely written in good language or grammar. Look out for any email that needs better-written
- Refrain from opening the attached files.
Aside from the above tips for being secured from cyberattacks, conduct cybersecurity audits regularly. Not only that, breach readiness assessments are crucial in keeping your network safe.
