Cybersecurity is Just as Important at Home as in The Office

Written by: Jack Loomis, Cyber Security Specialist

It is no secret: things have been crazy these last few months. We are by no means back to normal, but we are making steps in the right direction. As we learn to live and work moving forward, there is now the interesting perspective of some employees returning to work at their office, and some that are still working from home. With that being said, it is good to go over a few cybersecurity tips that can be followed whether you are working from home, or in the office:

• If you are working from home, it’s important to remember that the potential for more phishing or vishing (phishing through voice communication) is bound to slip through. Using a cell phone as opposed to a work phone means that some things won’t be filtered out. Treat any suspicious phone call or email with the utmost security. Also, be aware of the larger number of tech support scams that may affect users working from home.
• Make sure you are always using your company’s VPN to connect to your corporate network. A VPN – or Virtual Private Network – is set up for users to access their corporate network resources from outside of the office. While this is necessary for things like shared folders, mapped drives from a server, etc. it is also important to remember that company information is considered confidential. Using a VPN will help encrypt your communications between your home device and the corporate network. 
• Only use your work device for work. It seems like no big deal, right? “I’ll just check my personal email quick on my work laptop, and that’ll be that”. The problem is, if you click on something malicious, you run the risk of that malware spreading through to the corporate network. Yes, this can even happen if you are working from home. We are assigned work computers for a reason; don’t use it for personal stuff. 
• When returning to work at the office, it’s always good to brush up on company policies and procedures regarding what’s considered acceptable use. After months of working from home, habits have likely slipped due to the comfort of being in a non-office setting. To avoid an awkward talk with HR or your IT team, it might be good to have a glance at your Acceptable Use Policy and remind yourself what’s allowed in the office.

These are just a few tips as we continue to deal with the strangeness of the last few months. Remember that communication is the key between home and office employees. It’s not always as easy right now to just walk over to someone’s desk and talk about a problem. Always try to inform your coworkers of possible scams and issues. It’s also no secret that the protections that we have in an office setting are usually much better than what we have at home. If you’d like to hear more, or are in need of managed services, reach out to Southshore Managed IT Group at 219-226-3386.

Click here to learn some cybersecurity best practices to follow whether you’re heading back into the office or continuing to work from home.