Due to the Covid-19 pandemic teleworking has become the norm. Following our previous teleworking tips post, this one aims to help first-comers, both people and organisations to keep safe. It is usually those, who are the prime targets of black hat hackers. In order to foil their plans, we have comprised a list of 10 things that anyone can do to boost up its cybersecurity.
- Use only trusted secure networks and devices. For example, on sunny day taking your laptop and going to work from the park through a public Wi-Fi might sound like a good idea but it is not advisable if you want to stay Cyber Safe.
- In order to make your Wi-Fi at home even more safe please change the default password. The original passwords of your routers can be easily compromised.
- Passwords are important. Use strong and unique passwords. Also use two factor authentication (SMS, Authenticator app, etc) whenever possible. And for God’s sake, your keyboard is not a piano, so no sequential characters (e.g. QWERTY or 12345) in your password!
- Install an antivirus software everywhere. From your desktop to your smartphone, every device that connects to the internet should be protected.
- Be extra careful about the emails you receive these days. Everyone has more time in their hands, that includes malicious hackers. So be vigilant, phishing attacks are definitely going to rise the next few weeks.
- Backup your data and please for the love of everything that is holy, run regular software updates on your devices.
- If you are using a work laptop with sensitive data or if you have installed said sensitive data to your home PC, please be aware of your surfing habits. Avoid dodgy websites and never click on links from an unknown source. If you get a popup that you don’t understand what is it asking you, the safest bet is to close it using the “X” on the top right corner. If this is not possible, then click “No”.
- Buy only from reliable sources, if a vendor is offering something that looks too good to be true then, I am sorry to tell you it probably is.
- Oh, and when you order things online it is safer to use credit cards than debit cards. For more tips about shopping online you can also check out this article about secure online shopping that we posted in the past.
- Some will not consider this final tip to be related to cybersecurity, but we beg to differ. Always keep your equipment physically safe, a hacker doesn’t have to hack your online account if they can steal your unprotected laptop or smartphone. So be careful with your equipment, and if possible, keep your data encrypted.
We know that for the time being, the world looks like a scary place. But take heart, if we all follow the advice of the experts and do our part things will go back to normal in no time at all. In the meantime, be vigilant and do not panic.