The Best Work From Home Cybersecurity Tips

Working From Home Unexpectedly?

Have you been asked (or told) to work from home due to the coronavirus pandemic? How is that going for you? It’s been a few weeks and we sure hope that you have been able to hold on to your job; we do understand that many people have been furloughed, or let go due to loss of business.

• If you are lucky enough to work for a company that has retained you and asked you to work from home, this is for you.
• If you are spending time at home looking for a job, or if your kids are at home working on school assignments, this is for you.
• If you have elderly parents who due to being quarantined are spending more time online, this is for you as well

Remote Working Is The New Normal During This Pandemic

While remote work has been the status quo for only 7% of the US workforce prior to the COVID-19, it has become the ‘new normal’ during this pandemic.

Whole office buildings are empty, and millions of people have scrapped their community to start working from home. Of the 80+ million American school children, 97% are home home, engaged in distance learning through the internet.

These remote workers and students now work at kitchen tables, in bedrooms, basements, or living rooms instead of cubicles and fancy offices and in schools.

Some have families or pets at home who might or might not distract them.

Remote Work Tips From Those Who Have Experience

While many people are experiencing working from home for the first time, navigating and learning what works and what doesn’t, as they go, looking to those who already worked from home for tips is a smart idea.

Who has prior experience, you ask?

Freelancers, creatives like graphic designers and web designers, authors, customer service, sales etc.; whole industries are build on remote workers.

Here is an article filled with 30+ tips from those who have experience as remote workers! These kids can be applied to employees as well as students!

How To Stay Sane, Married and Employed While Working Remote

Now, we all know that due to social distancing and mandatory quarantines, we are spending way more time online than usual. Facebook is reporting that their usage is up by over 50%!

In times of stress and worry, humor is a great way to get relief.

Check out this funny video with excellent tips on how to stay married, employed and sane while working remote.

Cybersecurity Tips For Students and Remote Workers!

Whether you are working from home yourself, or your children are on the internet all day long for distance learning, here are the best tips to keep you and your loved ones safe!

🔥Be aware of phishing scams! Do not click on emails or messages asking you to check or renew passwords and login credentials, even if they seem to come from a trusted source.

🔥Recheck your Wi-Fi connection; update your password. While most Wi-Fi is correctly secured, some older installations might not be, which means people in the near vicinity can snoop your traffic or hack into your system – call us at Strand Security if you aren’t sure!

🔥Reset passwords frequently and if sharing accounts with coworkers, always use a password manager to share passwords, never in an email.

🔥Install anti-virus software and keep it updated.

🔥Use your home security system to keep an eye on your home and your family, but make sure the system itself is secure against hacking!

🔥Back up all important files – we recommend backing up files on both a hard drive as well as in the cloud.

🔥Get into the habit of locking your computer and phone screens. While you are in quarantine with family members, this might not be of huge concern, but if you do have sensitive data on your devices, it’s always a good idea to keep your devices locked.

🔥Stick to HTTPS websites! Do not enter your credit card information unless you know and trust the site.

Don’t forget to share these tips with your elderly parents active online as well!