In the world of remote working today not everybody is working in an office anymore. They are spending their time working from home as much as possible. We seem to have moved to more of a hybrid situation since the pandemic finished and the world reopened, but people are still working in offices in their homes. When that’s the case for you, whether you are running the business or just an employee, you need to ensure that your Home Office is as secure as possible. 

Secure Your Home Office

You’ll be dealing with sensitive business information no matter what, which means that you need to ensure that you are putting your security ahead of everything else. One of the most particularly challenging aspects of being able to work remotely is securing your networks and your devices so that nobody can break in and take your sensitive information. With that in mind, we’ve got some tips for you to learn how to keep your Home Office secure. From learning what is a SSID to understanding firewalls, there are many things you can do to secure your home office. Let’s take a look at our tips below to get you started.

Reminders to Secure Your Home Office

• Update both your firmware and your firewall. If you want to ensure that you are keeping your business information secured, then you need to make sure that the firmware is current. The firewall should also be enabled with the Wi-Fi password strong. You shouldn’t be using passwords of old, especially when your Wi-Fi box comes with a password that is case-sensitive and long enough that it’s hard to guess. Cyber attacks remain a concern, which means that you need to make sure that you are indulging in frequent individual backups and you are using firmware and firewalls that are current and correct.

• Keep your work devices secure. It’s easy to leave your laptop or your phone in your car, even if your car is parked in the garage, but you should probably avoid doing that. Anybody at any time could break into your garage, which means that you’re going to have to deal with somebody stealing sensitive work information. Security is not just about firewalls and firmware, but it’s also about the physical security of your device. Making sure that things are locked away is very important.

• Switch on WPA2 security for your Wi-Fi. When you’re working from home, you have to ensure that your home network is secure. It shouldn’t be open for everybody to use without a password, and it should be difficult for that password to be guessed. You should also turn on WPA2 security for your standard and your guest networks. This adds that extra layer of security beyond not clicking on that phishing email.

• Don’t open emails from people you don’t know. This is Internet Basics 101. If you don’t know who has sent you an email, don’t open it. You need to ensure that you are not opening a dodgy email with a scam attachment that is going to infiltrate your computer. Nobody wants a virus on their computer or any of their devices and opening phishing emails is the first way to do it. You can avoid that by making sure that you have your security settings on your email set up high and you’re not answering emails or opening attachments from people that you don’t know.

• Let your IT team know if anything out there is suspicious. If you do get any emails that you can’t open because you’re worried about the attachment, then you should speak to your IT team first. They’ll be able to scan it for you to determine whether or not the e-mail really is a suspicious one that you should avoid, or whether you are safe to open it.

• Multi factor authentication is not designed to frustrate you. A lot of people don’t like the fact that they have to use two or three different methods of passwords, face recognition and thumbprints just to get into their accounts. It’s important that you understand that multi factor authentication is there to protect you and it gives you a secure remote working environment with a process that allows you to keep your information and your data secure.

• Don’t install software on company devices that isn’t related to the job. It’s important that you don’t just start installing games or files that you don’t know. It’s a simple and yet important guideline to follow. Avoiding installing non-work related software on your laptop is going to keep you safe.

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