While you may consider your home to be a safe and secure location, company data should never be left out in the open – even if this is on your kitchen table. If key information gets into the wrong hands, it could be devastating for a business. Not to mention that a home is a lot less guarded than a block of offices.
For those looking to keep their company data safe while working remotely, here are a few top tips to consider:
Locking Away Laptops, Computers and Files
One way to help ensure that your company’s important data is safe is to lock away the laptop/computer it’s stored on when not in use. You may have a safe you can easily store your laptop in, or perhaps you have a key to the office your computer is in, which can be used to lock the office when it’s not being used.
This can help to reduce the risk of nosy people taking a look at your data, or accidentally stumbling across it when wanting to use the devices for something else.
However, this can often be an issue when your work device is also used for entertainment and virtual socialising when off the clock. If this is the case, other options may be better to consider.
Password Protected Devices
Another way to help keep your data safe when working remotely is to password protect all of your devices which have access to said data. This can be incredibly useful for those who are unable to lock away their devices, helping to keep private company data, well, private!
When choosing to password protect devices, it helps to pick passwords which are personal, unique, and most importantly, difficult to guess – this means “password” or “password123” are out of the question if you want to keep that data secure.
VPNs
Unfortunately, cyber criminals have started to attack remote workers, many of which have not been set up to remote work securely.
For many businesses, employees working remotely will have to access their works’ network from wherever they are – this typically being at home. VPNs can help to provide a secure way of doing this.
Businesses can use something called remote access VPNs to help enhance their safety and security measures whilst managing remote workers. These VPNs help to create a secure connection between the company’s network and the remote workers’ devices, helping to reduce the risk of company data getting into the wrong hands.