Working From Home? Follow These Safety Protocols To Keep Hackers At Bay

COVID-19 has prompted companies to adopt a remote working culture overnight. Remember how it was an occasional activity a few months back. But not anymore! With most of us working from home, a home office setup equipped with a W-Fi router and laptop has become quite familiar. In fact, we have reached a phase where innovations like video conferencing have quickly emerged as a crucial part of our daily routine and communication strategy. 

The world is acclimatizing to this new transition, and so are we. But what makes work from home risky is the fact that most Indians using personal laptops or desktops still lack cyber hygiene and operate without a genuine antivirus. Yes, you heard me right. Cyberattacks have become mainstream, especially during the lockdown period. According to the Seqrite Quarterly Threat Report, ransomware attacks targeting Indian enterprises have doubled in the April-May-June quarter in comparison with Q1 2020.  

This is a huge vulnerability that threat actors are championing to bank on. While the current situation indeed calls for organizations and businesses to invest in robust security solutions to up their cybersecurity infrastructure, there are a few safety protocols that one must follow to keep the network and personal system safe from hackers. 

1. Implement Two-Factor Authentication – Because passwords are not that strong as you might think, it is vital to implement two-factor authentication and add another layer of security to your system. Simply put, this solution will ask hackers for another password even if they crack the first one. The best example to understand this could be the one-time password (OTP) that banks ask when you reach the payment stage. In terms of a computer, the second layer of security could be an alternate email address, a phone call, or an SMS alert. 

2. Review Your Login History – Have you observed that Google notifies you when your account is logged in from another source? You get to see all the details such as what device you used for logging in, or how many times you did so. Similarly, Google lets you see your latest logins and enables you to review all your network's activity logs. This is a reliable way to monitor who accesses your network, the number of times they tried to enter, and what information they are looking for. Make this a practice, and you can stay protected from the outsiders. 

3. Keep Your Systems Up to Date – As technology gets older, it almost becomes outdated. Which means, your system may not be able to defend any spyware to enter your area. For instance, while you are using an older laptop or desktop, it may not have an updated operating system (OS). You will face the same problem if you are using a new device but not keeping up well with the updates. Hence, it is essential to keep reviewing your system's current state and eyeing for the latest security updates and patches. By doing so, you can prevent threat actors from infiltrating your network or entering the system. 

4. Use a genuine antivirus - Even today, most consumers use pirated versions of antivirus software because it is readily available on the Internet without spending a penny. Well, let me stop you right there. If you are using a pirated or free version, know that it may already contain a virus. Moreover, it lacks the right set of patches and the latest updates to prevent malware entry. In contrast, a genuine antivirus can instantly detect and eliminate the malware while also giving you a detailed report to read and understand the nature of the virus and how to stop it. So, don't have any second thoughts before buying a genuine antivirus. It's totally worth it! 

5. Secure your Wi-Fi Network - Last, but not the least, go for security solutions that offer an automatic Wi-Fi scanner to scan the entire Wi-Fi network and identify potential vulnerabilities in the process. Once the scanning process is completed, users can go through the detailed report of bugs and fix them right away. One can also protect their home network by installing routers that come with an added layer of security like Quick Heal Home Security. As a router becomes a necessity to continue working remotely in the post-COVID world, taking these measures is all the more important to safeguard the device and thus keep hackers at bay. 

Remote work is no doubt comfy. But it is your responsibility to make it safe and secure!