5 Rules Remote Workers Must Follow to Secure their Computing Devices

by Brian Pereira | Apr 25, 2020

unregistered devices, Dynamic Communication, Work From Home, security and risk management

It’s been a month now since we have all been working from our homes. And if you are using the company laptop, there are certain precautions that you should take to secure. Hackers are turning their attention to employees working from home. Here are my absolute rules to secure company devices.

Rule #1: The cardinal rule is, keep your office device and home device separate. DO NOT use the same device for official and personal work. Never allow your family members to use your office laptop or install games or apps on it.

Rule #2: Uninstall all unnecessary apps from your office laptop. Make sure you are using original versions (not cracked) of the operating system and the applications.

Rule #3: Update your OS and apps regularly – on both your laptop and smartphone. There will always be weaknesses in software and hackers will look for those and exploit them. Software developers patch their apps and release new versions. Yes, OS updates can take a long time and will require you to restart your laptop (several times). Schedule your OS updates for early morning or late at night.

Rule #4: Change passwords every 30 days or so. DO NOT use the same password across cloud services. There are password managers that can help you remember all those passwords, but I would not recommend those. Write passwords in a little red book and store it at the back of your drawer or in a safe at home! Use password phrases that you can remember, with a mix of upper and lower case letters.

Rule #5: Change the default admin password on your home router. Home routers and access points have default usernames and passwords like “ADMIN”. Just read the router manual and you’ll see it. It is easy for a tech-savvy neighbor to guess the default password and hack into your home Wi-Fi network for free connectivity. The hacker will also be able to take control of all the connected devices in your home and steal data and other passwords.

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Brian Pereira

Brian Pereira is an Indian journalist and editor based in Mumbai. He founded Digital Creed in 2015. A technology buff, former computer instructor, and software developer, Brian has 29 years of journalism experience (since 1994). Brian is the former Editor of CHIP India, InformationWeek India and CISO Mag. He has served India's leading newspaper groups: The Times of India and The Indian Express. Presently, he serves the Information Security Media Group, as Sr. Director, Editorial. You'll find his most current work on CIO Inc. During his career he wrote (and continues to write) 5000+ technology articles. He conducted more than 450 industry interviews. Brian writes on aviation, drones, cybersecurity, tech startups, cloud, data center, AI/ML/Gen AI, IoT, Blockchain etc. He achieved certifications from the EC-Council (Certified Secure Computer User) and from IBM (Basics of Cloud Computing). Apart from those, he has successfully completed many courses on Content Marketing and Business Writing. He recently achieved a Certificate in Cybersecurity (CC) from the international certification body ISC2. Follow Brian on Twitter (@creed_digital) and LinkedIn. Email Brian at: [email protected]

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