Cyber Security Threats for Remote Workers

With the technological advancements and modern telecommuting tools, devices and applications, working from the comforts of home has been possible for many professionals and executives. Remote working has brought a great work-life balance for many people. Instant messaging, video conferencing, emails etc. have made lives easier as workers do not have to worry about traveling to work and morning traffics. At the same time, remote working is no more seen as lazy or unproductive practice.

Remote working culture has now become a norm and it is giving rise to online activities. This has attracted the hackers to target the systems of such employees who access the company data from outside the office environment. But many a times, users or employees are unaware of the risks that they are exposed to while working outside the office environment. Especially, these risks are doubled when they work from public places like airports, hotels, stations etc. Small businesses are much more vulnerable to these cyber risks because there is lesser likeliness for them using encryption and other IT support. So it’s always suggested to adopt some strict security disciplines to keep your laptops, smartphones and tablets protected from these kinds of threats.

Here are some easy but great tips that you must adhere when you are working remotely

• Follow strict password rules:Always set strong passwords using a combination of alpha-numeric characters. It should never be anything guessable like birthdays or names etc.
• Do not use same or similar passwords for different accounts or web-logins:It is a natural tendency that we set the same passwords for different accounts because we think we will be able to recall it easily. But that may be risky so try to keep passwords different for different accounts and web logins.
• Cloud Solutions:Another trusted source are cloud solutions. When you save your data on the cloud, even in case your device is stolen, damaged or lost, your data will be safe on the cloud and you can retrieve it anytime.
• Only connect to trusted networks:Only use secured network connections especially when you are functioning from some public place.

These are small but effective online security practices which you must follow to keep any threat and risk at the bay.