During these challenging times, many people are now working from home. While there is much to worry about outside of work, it is important not to lose sight of computer and internet security while you have access to work resources from home. Many attackers have already changed their tactics due to the pandemic and with everyone working from home, it is nearly impossible to control for the security of everyone’s home network. Below are a few things to consider to increase the security of your home network and, by extension, work servers and documents.
Have a strong WiFi password
Many home WiFi passwords are surprisingly vulnerable due to the use of things like street number, street name, phone number, or city name. Having a password that contains information related to the location of the network makes the password easier to guess for someone attempting to gain access. If you have a password like this, it is important to change it to something that contains at least one letter, symbol, and number, and change any portions of the password that make it easy to guess.
Disable your router’s guest network
Some routers when purchased or provided by your internet service provider will have a guest WiFi network. Sometimes this guest network does not have a password by default. If someone can connect to this network without issue, it can make it easier for them to gain access to the rest of your non-guest network.
Disconnect from your work’s remote access system when not in use
If you’ve been given remote access to work resources, such as a VPN or remote desktop, it’s important to disconnect from the service when it is not being actively used. It is tempting to keep the connection open at all times for convenience, but if someone were to gain access to your network or computer while the connections are open, it will make it easier for the attacker to determine what is valuable to attack and remove the need for them to break into the system.
Don’t save your work login information
Again, it is tempting to want to save your login information for accessing work resources, but it is a significant security vulnerability. It doesn’t matter how complex and secure a password is if it doesn’t need to be entered.
Power off your work computer after hours
Many remote workers have been provided a computer by their employer that is setup specifically to perform work functions. If you have a work computer at home, it is important that you power it off when you finish working for the day. Doing so eliminates the possibility of the computer being compromised while it is sitting unused and unobserved.
Lock your computer when you step away
If when you are working and you get up to take a break, it is a good idea to lock your computer (work or personal) or put it to sleep while you are away, no matter how brief the break. This will require anyone who has physical access to the computer to enter a password to access the computer. This is especially important if there are other people living in your home.
Refrain from accessing personal accounts on a work computer
Accessing your personal email or other accounts on a work computer is generally a bad idea. Not just because of distraction, but accessing these accounts adds an additional security risk that cannot be controlled for. Malicious email that can compromise your computer is a constant risk and personal email accounts are generally much less secure than work accounts.
