5 Best Practices for Employees to Enhance Security When Working Remotely

Working Remotely from Home Photo by Samson Katt on Pexels

Working from home is great. After all, who wouldn’t want to relax in the comfort of their own home and work the hours that suit them best? However, as good as it is, if you aren’t careful remote work can expose you to cyber risks - which is something you want to avoid when you’re dealing with important and sensitive data.

Want to know how to enhance your security when working remotely? Here’s 5 best practices you need to take on board:

1. Secure Your WiFi and Internet

When working from home, all your company’s data is going to go through your WiFi and home internet connection - so you need to lock it up tight. To do that, and reduce the risk of data being compromised, you can:

Strengthen the router password by creating one that is long, unique, and has a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols.
Enable WPA3 encryption (or at least, WPA2) to improve the security of your router and encrypt WiFi data.
Disable the WiFi SSID broadcast so your WiFi doesn’t advertise itself to nearby devices.
Use a VPN to encrypt your internet traffic. Ask if your company provides remote workers with a VPN service - especially if you ever work off public WiFi.

Once you’ve secured your WiFi and internet, you’ll be a lot more protected. However, that’s just one area that needs to be tackled.

2. Prep All Devices

Any devices that you use for work need to be prepped in advance to tighten their security That includes PCs, notebooks, tablets, or mobile phones - but the good news is it isn’t that complicated to secure devices:

Install antivirus and antimalware software and set it up to scan frequently. It will help detect and remove viruses or malware before they become a problem.
Update software regularly to install new patches. Many updates fix security vulnerabilities that hackers often look to exploit.
Lock your screen automatically when your devices aren’t in use. Adjust the settings to use a strong password, or biometric identification.

Sounds easy enough? While basic, these steps will ensure your devices are shielded from unwanted intrusions.

3. Strengthen Your Passwords

Passwords are your main line of defense for devices and accounts.. By following a few best practices you can strengthen them and make sure they stand up to hackers:

Use long passwords that are ideally 12+ characters each.
Mix and match letters, numbers, and symbols into your passwords.
Make every password unique and never reuse them on multiple accounts.

If you have any difficulty, there are password managers that can generate and remember complex passwords. Additionally, always enable 2-factor authentication if available to add a secondary layer of defense.

4. Use Dedicated Work Devices

If your company equips you with a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone for work - try to only use it for work-related activities. By separating work and personal devices, you can avoid accidentally mixing up work and personal files, sending them to the wrong recipient, or downloading an attachment from a friend that was infected with a virus.

Separating devices not really an option? The next best thing is to create dedicated work and personal profiles and restrict their access to only the apps and files they require.

5. Learn to Spot Phishing Scams

Remote workers are often targeted with phishing scams consisting of fake emails, texts, or messages designed to look legit. The purpose of these fakes is to trick you into clicking on links that will steal credentials or infect devices with malware. There are a few things you can look for to identify suspicious messages that may be scams::

Mismatched email domains that are from the wrong source.
Urgent tone designed to make people panic and react without thinking.
Masked links with a destination URL that is not a legitimate website.
Spelling and grammar mistakes that indicate it is not from a formal source.

As a rule, you should never click on links, or download attachments that feel off. It is better to err on the side of caution and either, attempt to verify the sender’s identity, or use a search engine to find the source’s official website and visit it directly.

Conclusion

The unique security challenges of remote work may appear difficult to overcome at first, but it's really just a question of forming the right habits. By taking smart and practical steps to protect yourself, you’ll be able to enhance your security while working remotely and avoid most of the cyberthreats that are out there.