Your Guide To 10 Best Practices Working Remotely
Amid COVID-19, companies worldwide were forced to let their employees work from home. Unfortunately, this caused users to search for tips for working remotely due to such unusual practices.Here is your guide to best practices working remotely.
Introduction
Technology has evolved to facilitate effortless and convenient ways of conducting work for workers from the comfort of their homes. In recent months COVID-19 has halted businesses worldwide, causing workforces to work remotely. However, cyber-criminals tend to attack remote workers due to a lack of working remote best practices. Therefore this article throws light upon ten tips for staying cyber-safe while telecommuting.
1. Multi-Factor Authentication:
Single-layered authentication is vulnerable to attacks due to low-strength passwords. Hence, one must use multi-factor authentication as it uses multiple credentials to verify a user’s identity. Such authentications revolve around something a user knows like a password, something a user has like a smartcard, and something the user is like a fingerprint.
2. Frequently update network and remote access applications:
Among many working remote tips, periodically updating remote accessing software can help fix bugs in the older version and will be more cyber-safe. Teleconferencing applications such as Zoom had vulnerabilities that were misused by intruders, and such instances are proof of the need for frequently updating such apps.To know more about how can you use zoom securely please click here.
3. Proper human and IT resourcing:
Since employees are working from home, there will be a hike in bandwidth usage, computing power, and cloud storage spaces. Therefore, businesses should be prepared for efficient utilization of resources without causing any network disruptions, and resources should be allocated, considering peak hours for more resources.
4. Use a secure network:
VPNs (Virtual Private Network) are used for a safe and encrypted connection with a remote system and are less susceptible to attacks. Usage of public Wi-Fi should be avoided since there could be many devices connected to the same network, and any malicious user in the system can take down the entire network.
5. Verify the website URL before accessing:
Attackers can use forged websites and force users to use fake URLs to access websites that look authentic like a bank, email provider, healthcare, and so on, which in reality could be a backdoor for remote accessibility by hackers. Therefore, it’s cyber-safe to use HTTPS secured and frequently used verified websites.
6. Use antivirus software:
Cybersecurity work from home experts recommends using software to limit access and modification controls to avoid intrusions. In addition to that, antivirus applications can help users to detect and delete malware and also log any unauthorized modifications in the system. However, such software should be periodically updated to be bug-free and be alert against any new malware.
7. Be ready with backup and recovery plans:
Attackers know that dependency on a network is higher when clients are working remotely, and they know how to use the opportunity. Therefore, organizations and workers should maintain a business continuity plan with an incident recovery team and cyber-crime incident response plan.
8. Stay away from phishing emails:
Need for emails has risen due to an increase in telecommunication and sharing of reports and files related to job and scammers can act as genuine senders to trap employees to take the bait. Users should stay vigilant and be careful while opening URL and attachments in emails from unknown parties.
9. Configuring Wi-Fi encryption:
Users sharing Wi-Fi in apartments or any other similar buildings should ensure maximum security since there could be numerous devices connected to the same network. To ensure sufficient safety, use router settings to enable a secure encryption standard such as WPA2 for maximum security in addition to a strong password.
10. Use corporate services:
Corporate services such as Slack and Microsoft Office 365 are less likely to contain spam and phishing content due to the company configuring such services. Moreover, such services are safe and reliable for exchanging documents between employees and employers.
Final Words on Best Practices Working Remotely
Overall, work from home is a relatively new concept of working, and employees are still figuring out ways to deal with it. However, due to technical risks, workers are always suggested to adopt working remote best practices.
