Network Security – Work-at-Home

Work-at-home demands a secure environment

Protect your employer’s business with secure home computing.

Per the CompTia 2020 report, “human error remains the primary component of most security breaches, and the level of knowledge needed by employees has greatly increased as a result of broader technology usage.” This is unsurprising given that a recent survey found, scarily, that two-thirds of remote workers hadn’t received cybersecurity training over the past year, and 77 percent of them weren’t worried about security while working at home.

If you are about to work at home or are already there, you should hope that your employer has thought this through and is providing you the tools you need to secure your work-related efforts whenever and wherever you connect.

Here are some general do’s and don’ts when working at home:

1. Read CyberGuardian: A SecureTheVillage Guide for Residents, available on Amazon! Becoming a CyberGuardian is a great way to serve your employer’s and your personal interests to be secure. Recommending the book to your employer will definitely put a smile on the author’s face! ☺
2. Use your employer’s laptop and/or smartphone with VPN service to connect to the employer’s network over the Internet. No sharing allowed!
3. Up-to-date security protection should be installed and active on any devices that will be used for work; e.g. antivirus, firewalls, device encryption.
4. Use strong, memorable, unique passwords and 2FA to access your company’s resources. Ensure that your employer could maintain resource access in the event of your absence.
5. If you use a password manager for your personal accounts, use a separate password manager for your work accounts.
6. Ensure that all device software is at the latest, approved level.
7. Ensure that remote (e.g. cloud-based) storage has been set up as a backup for your digital work-product.
8. If you are using your personal modem/router to connect to your company’s IT infrastructure, ensure that your modem/router setup is secure and this is approved by your company’s management.
9. Ensure that any personal work product is stored securely on your company’s IT infrastructure.
10. Avoid use of USB stick devices.
11. Learn the do’s and don’ts if your company is using Mobile Device Management/ Enterprise Mobility Management (MDM/EMM) to manage your devices’ technology,
12. Be aware of any contingency plans that your employer may put in place.
13. Reach out to your work-at-home peers to share do’s and don’ts. Hopefully, your employer will facilitate this communication.
14. Ensure your workspace is private, including
    a. If using outside of house, check surroundings and ensure no one can see over your shoulder!
    b. Turn off your smart speaker (e.g. Alexa) if you have confidential work teleconferences.
15. If you lead/initiate online video conferences for work, such as Zoom (zoom.us), make sure that there is no public link available and that screen sharing is host only. Also, instruct the attendees to be careful with private chatting as this might become public, if the conference is recorded.

FOR FURTHER READING:
CyberGuardian: a SecureTheVillage Guide for Residents is available on Amazon.
A complete Security Checklist is available: https://www.nerdsiview.com/security-checklist-2/
References for Village Residents are available at SECURE THE VILLAGE: https://securethevillage.org/residents

Supplemental Articles:
https://comptiacdn.azureedge.net/webcontent/docs/default-source/research-reports/research-report—state-of-cybersecurity-2020.pdf? 
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3574020/how-to-communicate-with-your-remote-workers-about-cybersecurity.html
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3532352/12-security-tips-for-the-work-from-home-enterprise.html
https://lifehacker.com/this-quirky-zoom-setting-can-make-your-private-snarks-p-1842553134?