Telecommuting: Tips For Working From Home Safely

Telecommuting: When you sit in the office to start up the computer that your company has assigned to you, you do not have to worry about computer security. This is taken care of by a technology department, or a contracted IT company.

These tips are very important at a time when teleworking is gaining prominence, as a preventive measure against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and as a long-term trend.

Safe And Worry-Free Telecommuting

Working remotely safely is easier than it seems. There are many actions and habits that you can incorporate to improve your computer security. Many of those things to implement are simple.

If you follow the advice that we propose, you will gain a lot of peace of mind. You are going to make sure that your home office is not going to be a breach through which the company you work for presents a computer security risk

When we talk about computer security, we do it in a broad sense. We refer to protecting the data and documents of your professional activity (and those of the company as a whole), as well as the computer programs with which you work.

In addition, it is also about avoiding information leaks outside the perimeter of the company. In other words, a secure home office should also 100% prevent you from inadvertently leaking your company’s secret plans to a competitor. Nobody wants to reveal sensitive information to the competition, right?

Make Your Computer Safe And Secure

If this is your first time working from home, chances are you have simply turned your personal computer into a work computer. It is a logical decision, if you do not have a business laptop or if you simply do not have it at hand.

Personal Computer Transformed Into A Company Computer?

As long as it meets a series of requirements, the laptop or desktop that you use for your leisure time or for personal management is an excellent team to work with. However, since you give it a professional and work function, you have to extreme the strategy and security measures.

To be more aware of the importance of protecting your computer well, it is good that you keep in mind that your personal computer has become your business computer. You must behave with the prevention and common sense that you already show in your conventional office.

Do You Have Virus Protection? Is It Updated?

To start with, provide your desktop or laptop computer with antivirus protection (in case they don’t have it). It may be Windows Security, if your company does not give you specific specifications in this regard.

In case you already have antivirus, check that it is up to date and operational.

Windows Update

Now that you’re adapting your private computer to its new professional role, it’s an ideal time to make sure that your computer is configured to automatically perform all Windows updates.

Every time Microsoft releases a patch, a vulnerability in the Windows operating system becomes public knowledge. Therefore, it is essential that as soon as that patch or update is available, your team incorporates it.

Lock Windows when you go to make yourself a coffee

It could be that you have a room at home that you have turned into your office. However, in many homes it is impossible to turn a room into a home office. For reasons of space, many people create their workspace wherever they can.

In these cases, the computer work team is near a place of passage, in a corner to which anyone has access or in a larger space shared by other members of the family (for example, a living room). Taking this into account, it is recommended that you lock the computer when you go to make a coffee or take a break.

Sure, you trust your family, but children (and children’s friends) can be curious and mischievous. Beyond making it clear to them that the work computer is a sensitive piece of equipment that no one can touch, you should take additional measures, such as blocking those moments when you move away from the keyboard.

Stronger user password

A computer that you use for leisure does not have to require a password to access it. Why would you need it if all you do is check email, listen to music and watch YouTube videos? But things change when you use that equipment for your work. In that case, it is essential that you create a Windows user, with a password.

Make sure the password is strong enough. Do not put 1234 , or your first name. If you make it so easy, the little ones in the house will not have much difficulty getting into your team and, possibly, causing some damage.

Work on a secure network

If in your private life the security of your router and your Wi-Fi are crucial, in your professional life, even more so. There is no worse scenario than strangers accessing your personal and work Wi-Fi network.

Do not even think of using the access data to the router that comes by default. It is a way to invite anyone to access your router, since these default access data are available in any internet forum.

So if your router wasn’t secure, it’s about time it was. The time has come for you to set a strong password. That means using a long sequence of numbers and letters (in upper and lower case).

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Many offices require employees who work from home for long periods of time to do so through a corporate Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Working through a VPN isolates your computer from the local network. That means that local resources, available in your home office, such as printers on your home network, you will not be able to use them.