Home Working: Reduce The Cyber Risks

Whilst working from home will not be new to many organisations and employees, the coronavirus is forcing organisations to consider home working on a greater scale, and for a longer period of time. You may have more people working from home than usual, and some of these may not have done it before and this could go on for a lot longer than most people realise.

We live in an inter-connected world and we can work anywhere using the right cyber secure technology. Now video conferencing, live chat, social media and good old-fashioned emails let us catch up and share reports with employees in different time zones.

Working from home can be daunting for some people who haven't done it before, especially if it's a sudden decision. There are also practical considerations; staff who are used to sharing an office space will now be remote. Think about whether you need new services, or to just extend existing ones, so that teams can continue to collaborate. When working from home, make sure you are not helping hackers and scammers gain access to your business and company records.

Without the security protections that office systems afford us - such as firewalls and blacklisted IP addresses, we are far more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

The most obvious risk is that most of our tasks are conducted online. If something’s on the Internet, then there’s always the possibility of a cyber-criminal compromising it. They might attempt to do this by cracking your password. This could be easier than ever if you’re reusing login credentials for the various online apps that you need to stay in touch with your team.

Alternatively, attackers could send phishing emails that are intended to trick you into either handing over your details or downloading a malicious attachment containing a keylogger. The dangers of phishing should already be a top concern, but things are especially perilous during the coronavirus crisis. If you're an employer with employees working from home, make sure you don't have holes in your Internet security system.

People who specialise in Internet security, say your home work environment may not be as secure as your regular work place and scammers are counting on it. 

Multiple Internet analyses indicate that phishing emails have skyrocketed since March. There have been more than 4.1 million spam emails globally in the last month. That's 139 thousand spam emails per day, many of them desigend to exploit to the  COVID-19 pandemic.

 In addition to phishing scams, cyber security experts said scammers capitalise on hidden work-from-home risks such as workers bypassing employer VPN, using unapproved online file sharing, and unauthorised apps and devices. 

Another vulnerable spot for many work-at-home employees is the your WiFi modem which is your link to the Internet and a gateway for cyber thieves if your password is not extra secure. 

NCSC:       Kaspersky:        ITGovernance:      KOMO News: 

If you would like more specific information about how you can improve your cyber home and business security, please contact Cyber Security Intelligence  for recommendations on the right solutions for your business. 

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