5 Easy To Make Remote Working Cyber Security Mistakes That Create Security Risk

Over the past two years, we have learned more about remote working than anyone ever knew was possible. Even though we have lived in the digital age for years now, no one realized how possible it was to work completely remotely until we had to. Now that remote working has become so commonplace, it is important to note that we did not take enough time when we first widely implemented it to assess all of its risks. While remote working has been a savior to the business world over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has brought on its fair share of problems too. Because no one assessed the extent of risks or trained anyone to work from home, the majority of people have exposed their employers and themselves to cyber security risks without even realising it. We are going to have a look at five easy-to-make mistakes that can negatively affect your cyber security, and how to avoid them in the future.

1: Choosing Easy and Weak Passwords

We are all guilty of this one. Even though a lot of websites prompt and require you to add certain characters nowadays; many of us still make it too easy on cybercriminals by being silly with our passwords. Even if we happen to try and choose a password that is more complex and secure, we probably reuse that same password on 80% of our websites that we need log-ins for. Although this is human nature, it is ruining your cyber security. Remembering more complex passwords is a lot easier than recovering from a hack.

2: Autofill Password Options

This is another one we are all guilty of. Our devices have made it so easy for us to not have to remember anything, ever! And although this seems like a massive help, it can be a very dangerous thing to do. Ewan Castle, a business writer commented, “Although it is not going to cause you too much harm to save a shopping website login, your more secure and important logins (username and password) should never be saved to Autofill.” It is just too easy for someone to get onto your computer and all of a sudden have every single one of your logins.

3: Allowing Family to Use Work Devices

During the pandemic (especially for those of us with children), this is almost one hundred percent happened. It is easy to give a device to a family member if they need it quickly. But this can open up your device to attack if this person was to press just one wrong button.

4: Brushing Aside Signs of an Attack

Hannah Waters, a project manager, noted, “When a cyber-attack does occur, there are obvious signs that come through on your computer or device which show that it has been hacked.” Often it is little things, like your mouse stopping working or your keyboard keys getting sticky. It can be easy to brush these aside as little meaningless technical faults without investigating them. Employers need to educate workers more on how to spot these early signs of an attack.

5: Not Completing Software Updates Straight Away

It is during software update delays that a lot of cybercriminals make their move. The whole point of new and updated software upgrades is to maintain and improve security measures. Although it can sometimes seem pointless to upgrade your app icons, delaying a software update can often expose your device to unneeded cyber risks.

Although it is never going to be possible to be completely secure and protected against cyber-attacks (no matter where you are); there are definitely steps that can be taken by yourself while working at home that make it harder for people to gain access to your device. While you are on your home internet network, cybercriminals may be more likely to take the chance to get into your device and access data that would usually be operating on a more secure office network. It is important to do everything possible to protect yourself from these attacks and protect your data.