Guide To Remain Safe While Remote Working

With remote work blooming ever since the pandemic, it’s important for everyone to know the basic guidelines of cybersecurity in order to remain safe while being productive. As it turns out, this is pretty straightforward, and there are quite a few tools out there to help you with just that.

Guide To Remain Safe While Remote Working

1. Cloud Applications

Cloud-based tools make remote work a lot easier by putting everything together. There’s no need to download apps on separate computers, deal with different hardware and respective troubleshooting – everything is completely the same for each user. and it’s backed up by hefty security. One of the most popular packages, G-Suite by Google, is an example of a bundle of cloud applications. Drive, Sheets, Gmail, Meet – it puts together all applications that you could possibly need to complete your remote work and it encrypts everything to ensure no data gets leaked.

2. VPN

Short for “Virtual Private Network”, a VPN is among the best safety precautions that a remote worker can take, mainly due to its ability to mask both incoming and outcoming traffic and reroute it through a different network. This means that even if a third party tried to intercept the connection, they wouldn’t be able to trace it back to the original sender/recipient. There are both free and paid versions available, although it’s important to note that the premium versions often provide faster connections with less downtime.

3. Password Managers

Passwords are the only thing that stands between your valuable data and the person trying to access it. Because of this, it’s important to make it as complex and difficult to guess as possible. However, it can be difficult to keep track of all these phrases, especially when you’re working with dozens of accounts. Password managers encapsulate all of these passcodes and place them under a unique, master password. The benefit is that at all times you only need to remember a single combination of characters. If you’re having trouble remembering it, you can simply write it down on a piece of paper and carry it with you.

4. Prevent Scams with Spokeo

When you’re working online, you open at least a dozen of emails each day and answer the same amount of phone calls. What you might not realize is that this can put you at great risk, especially if you’re not careful. Phishing emails and money-draining calls are becoming increasingly more frequent. Fortunately, there’s a tool that can help you recognize and avoid these malicious attempts.

Spokeo, a reverse phone lookup and email search tool filters through all of the dangerous stuff for you. When you receive a suspicious email or a call, all you have to do is go to the tool’s website. Enter the address/number of the sender/caller and click on the “Search Now” button. After Spokeo is done with the analysis. You could get complete background information including the person’s name, address, as well as social media. If anything seems sketchy, avoid that particular email/call.

5. Avoid Public WiFi Connections

Using an open WiFi hotspot can be quite tempting, especially if you have a limited mobile data plan. Unfortunately, since they’re unprotected, you’re making yourself open to any and all kinds of attacks when you connect to them. There’s no amount of encryption or tools that can save you in this scenario. Which is why you should avoid WiFi hotspots as much as you possibly can. If you find yourself frequently in situations where you have to complete some urgent work. Consider getting a larger data plan.

6. Two-Factor Authentication

This fairly new authentication method acts as a secondary defence mechanism in case someone manages to crack your password. Before your account is accessible, you’ll have to confirm your identity in one of three ways depending on the method used. Something that you possess (a USB stick, a card), something that you are (biometrics, fingerprint, face ID), or somewhere that you are (GPS). Most of the platforms that support two-factor authentication work by sending a message to your phone with a certain code that you have to enter before it expires. This is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to boost your security significantly.

7. Backups

Tasks that you finish on your PC are in constant danger of being lost – if you don’t back them up, that is. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to prevent this. External hard drives, SD cards, large capacity flash drives, and other mediums are cheaper than ever. It’s going to set you back at most a couple of dozen dollars. A few minutes of your time to copy all the work.

While these methods boost your online safety, there’s no tool that can help save you from your own mistakes. Before dealing with any potentially malicious content, make sure to take the necessary safety precautions.