Cybersecurity: Protect Yourself Online as You Work from Home

With the recent developments following the coronavirus outbreak, many of us have already started seeing how critical the IT network and cybersecurity infrastructure is to modern communication. It is an aspect of daily living that is often overlooked, but it is an essential factor for the new reality. To stay in touch with friends and colleagues during this period of working from home, we need a secure and reliable cybersecurity system. It is a necessity to have a good internet connection to stream entertainment videos, browse and connect with colleagues to go on with our career roles.

In light of this new reality, more of us are now having to do all these activities from home. But this has not been without its fair share of risks. Cybersecurity breaches are now becoming more frequent, and there is no need to defend ourselves from them. Most employees working from home may not enjoy the reliable protective measures that workplaces have to prevent cases of cybersecurity attacks.

Typical office setups will often have numerous devices such as PCs, laptops, and video conferencing equipment all connected to the same network. These devices are required to conform to all the safety and cybersecurity policies, which is a sure way to guard against security and privacy breaches. Here, we will discuss the various threats to expect when working from home and what needs to be done to prevent them.???

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Threats to Watch Out For When Working from Home

The number of cyberattacks will keep rising during this lockdown spell, as hacking activities will be much more pronounced since more people will now be working from home. By the end of February, there has been a recorded increase of 667% of these cybersecurity invasion cases. A recent report established that there have been about 137 cases of phishing emails related to COVID-19 in January alone, and this number has risen to over 9000 within three months.

Company workers, if working from home, are much more prone to cybersecurity breaches through opening personal emails and may find themselves into websites that have nothing to do with work during the day. Rogue emails may find their way into their work inboxes since there is no cybersecurity framework to verify them through their IT departments. Hackers are now going so far as to exploit the coronavirus scare into generating profits by creating false charity websites. In contrast, others make direct contact with patients leading them to believe that they are health officials.?

Unconfigured and insecure routers are also directly at risk of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and the cyberattacks are expected to plummet within these next few weeks of self-isolation. There will also be a sharp increase in the number of cybersecurity breaches accomplished through the Internet of Things network devices. As more people will be home during this period, more devices will be in constant use, which is a direct factor in the susceptibility to cybersecurity attacks as the network entry points.

A Secure Approach for Smart Devices

Strategies formulated towards enhancing cybersecurity are often uncomplicated, free, and easy to actualize. Companies are taking it upon themselves to educate their employees on best security practices as well as cybersecurity training. These practices include setting up passcodes on all IoT devices such as cameras, connected data boxes, or any other smart home devices. Sometimes, it is advisable to keep changing these passwords at random intervals and ensuring they are strong enough so that the hackers do not have an easy time guessing.

Default passwords are a lot easier to guess, increasing the likelihood of having the security of your data compromised. For enhanced cybersecurity guarantees, passwords need to be complicated with over eight characters in length and consisting of a mixture of unique and different case letters. Constant updates for these devices are also a critical requirement for added protection from the increased cyber threats. ??

Keeping Your Home Safe

Sometimes, just ensuring complexity for your passwords is not enough to provide a balanced cybersecurity environment. The AI solutions incorporated in home routers are designed to monitor and block out threats, ensuring that all the susceptible devices are isolated from the network. These solutions are easy to initiate and could come in the form of software or even another router. They offer a wide variety of cybersecurity benefits and enhance parental control to limit what children are exposed to within the home.

A robust cybersecurity system takes time to become a sustainable online security mechanism. As you work from home, ensure that you protect yourself better from unprecedented attacks and privacy breaches that could cause significant loss. These easily implemented solutions are a sure way to ensure that cyber threats are drastically reduced.