5 Cyber Security Tips to Keep Your Workplace Safe Online

While cybercrime in the form of hacker attacks is dangerous for anyone, it is incredibly harmful to businesses, which use computers and the internet to send sensitive information about the company or files between the employees. In this era of COVID-19, of course, more businesses than ever before must safeguard their employees working remotely.

The good news is that you can easily prevent hacker attacks from happening and maintain safety in the Internet by following these five tips. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.

Remind Your Employees About Using Strong Passwords

Many people don’t want to make their passwords complicated because they fear that they will forget them at one point and instead use their names, date of birth, or simple phrases like ‘this company’ as their passwords. By doing this, they are almost asking for someone to hack their account, which is why it’s important that you keep reminding your employees about using a strong password.

Here are some tips on how to come up with one:

● remember that the longer, the better
● don’t use numbers or dates connected with personal information
● stay away from obvious (do not use the word password, as your password)
● use a combination of characters (include letters, numbers, and symbols)
● random character placement is more effective than existing words
● It is important to use strong usernames as well. You can generate one on https://nordpass.com/username-generator/.

Also, don’t use the same password for every account, and don’t save it to your browser.

Remember That a Good VPN Is Crucial

A VPN is one of the most effective ways of keeping your workplace safe while using the web, as it helps in keeping the data safe by creating encryption, which is almost impossible for a hacker to breakthrough. After all, it was invented to make communication and the file-sharing process between the employees working remotely and those in the office safer.

These days, there are so many of them available on the market that choosing the best one can be quite a challenge, which is why it has to be a carefully thought-through decision. Choose one that is suitable for business.

Always Pay Attention

Remember one thing – if something looks suspicious, don’t ignore it, as there is a big chance that someone is doing something to your computer without you knowing. It can be simple things, such as copies of emails sent from your address to other, unknown ones.

Don’t open attachments in the emails that you receive from addresses you don’t know, as it is one of the most common ways in which malware is transmitted to other devices.

However, emails and websites are not the only places in which the danger can lurk. Many people have no idea that devices that use Wi-Fi, such as printers or scanners, can be as dangerous. They collect private data, which means that they can be attacked as well – that’s why it’s important to wipe the hard drives every once in a while.

Use Two-Step Authorization

Two is better than one for a reason. The double authorization should be specially used by those employees who have access to sensitive company data, such as invoices, contracts, client information, trade secrets, or intellectual property. A good two-factor authorization should be a combination of two out of these:

● something you have, such as an ID badge
● something you are, such as a fingerprint
● something you know, such as a password

When you are using double authorization, you are making it a little harder for the hacker to get through, as the password will not be the only thing they need to break.

Educate Your Employees

Many companies don’t pay much attention to cybersecurity and don’t educate their employees on it, which is a big mistake. It’s important that your workers know what dangers can be waiting for them on the web, and a simple ‘terms and conditions’ document, which most people skip over, is not enough.

Every time you hire a new person, be sure to make them go through a course that educates them on how to protect the company’s data even if you’re working remotely. You will be surprised at how much a simple course can decrease, for example, clicking on suspicious URLs.

Also, don’t forget about the managers and people with higher positions, as they are usually the victims of cyberattacks due to their access to data that lower rank employees don’t have. Another thing is that those people travel more frequently and usually do their work while using a public Wi-Fi, which means that they are putting the company’s sensitive data out there for the hackers and competition with no encryption, whatsoever.

Of course, in this current era of COVID-19, more businesses than ever before must safeguard those individuals working remotely.

Final Thoughts

There’s no denying that keeping the employees and the overall workspace safe online should be one of the main priorities of every owner/CEO, as cyberattacks happen more often than you might think.

The tips listed above can help you with that, but in the end, the decision on what your company is going to do is entirely up to you. Good Luck!