With the coronavirus pandemic affecting the world, more business owners consider working from home as a viable option to maintain smooth operations. However, if you need to run your business from the comfort of your home, you might have to deal with a wide range of cybersecurity risks that could affect your business’ productivity.
Keep reading to learn how to keep your network secure in a work-from-home setting.
1. Implement Cybersecurity Measures At Home
Unlike a corporate office, working from home might mean you don’t have an IT team in your personal place to handle cybersecurity issues. A potential breach from an employee’s at-home Wi-Fi could be one reason why a work-from-home setting could expose your business to cyber threats. Knowing your business could fall victim to a breakdown in security, it makes sense for business owners like you to implement some measures to reduce the risks associated with remote working.
A few cybersecurity protocols either you or your employees could do for their work-from-home setup are:
- Download anti-virus suites: Anti-virus suites are one of the important ways to protect your network while doing business at home. When your network isn’t secure, it could leave your work and sensitive data at risk to attacks by a host of malwares and security breaches. So, if you want to stay on top of online threats, use reliable anti-virus suites for protection.
- Use multi-factor authentication: Another way to stop unauthorized users from breaching your company network is to implement a multi-factor authentication. This type of defense can be done by requiring a strong password, user ID, security key, biometric identification, or more before one could access the business network while working at home.
- Utilize company-dedicated VPNs: It’s also important to use a dedicated company virtual private network (VPN) server on your work laptop. Using a VPN could protect and secure your home network for working purposes. But, since there are VPNs that are still susceptible to cyberattacks, you need to ensure the one you use has the best encryption system to provide optimum protection.
As you can see, there are many cybersecurity measures you could put in place to secure your home network while working at home. However, if you’re looking to strengthen the above-mentioned methods, then working with a reliable Cyber Security Company could be an excellent idea.
2. Strengthen Your Home Network’s Security
Now that you have some cybersecurity protocols in place, it’s time to secure your home network. Establishing a secure network is especially true if, at times, you work from a remote location where others are connected, such as a café or campus. If there are days when you’re not at home but still working, try to save tasks that are security-sensitive to the days you’ll remain at home on a safe connection. Consider the following steps when getting started:
- Change the name of the default home network as well as the Wi-Fi network so it’s more difficult to determine the type of service and router you’re using
- Change the router’s default password to a strong, unique password
- Use a strong encryption such as a WPA2 advanced encryption standard when you connect your device
- Update your software and firmware frequently to avoid lapses in security coverage
- Change the default IP address so it’s harder for cybercriminals to discover
- Check all of the devices connected to your router to ensure they’re on the list of authorized devices or computers
3. Keep Your Family Members Away From Your Work Devices
Ensuring the safety of your work and documents should be at the forefront of your job while at home, no matter if others on your network are family. Be sure to disallow family members to access your work devices that are in the home. While it may seem harmless, if a security breach happens by accident, you are still held at fault. Your network and sensitive business files could be exposed to possible threats when accessed by third parties, especially children or elderly.
As such, it’s best to keep your work documents safe from your family members by setting up a home office where you could work without the interference of any of your loved ones.
Conclusion
Indeed, having a secure remote-work environment can be a challenging undertaking. With various cybersecurity risks that could impact your work, it’s crucial to stay on top of potential breakdowns by keeping your home network protected. Thankfully, using the information mentioned above, you could be confident knowing your experience working at home could be safe and free from cyber threats.