How Employees Can Prevent Cyberthreats at Home It ’ s nearly impossible to completely eliminate cyberthreats , which is fine since all threats are not equally detrimental or likely to occur . However , informing your employees of immediate steps they can take now to prevent the most harmful cyberattacks is the difference between a successful remote workforce and a vulnerable one . Here are some tips to share with your workforce to prevent irreparable and expensive data breaches :
• Use great caution upon receiving suspicious emails . Do they know the sender ? Does the message itself look like spam ? Advise your employees to delete and report any phishing attempts .
• Keep passwords strong . It is recommended to use at least eight characters ( including special characters such as !, @, #, etc .) and change your password frequently .
• Frequently restart devices . This allows for antivirus software to update regularly and prevent missing any needed fixes that would otherwise leave their devices vulnerable .
• Keep work data private . Advise your employees to shut their laptops off outside of work hours and to keep an eye on any roommates or family peeking at their screens .
Start the Conversation Unfortunately , cyberattacks have been around for decades and they will continue to be a large part of an organization ’ s data security concerns . Cybercriminals continue to adapt to new challenges and create innovative scams that are becoming more and more difficult to distinguish . However , cyberattacks create an opportunity for businesses to raise awareness about data breaches to employees and create a company-wide plan of defense .
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The best offense against cyberattacks is a good defense , and that starts with you as the employer doing your due diligence to protect your organization from data breaches . Here are a few things you can do to set your employees and , in turn , your business , up for success :
1 . Provide laptops with necessary antivirus software to all employees working remotely , if possible .
2 . Require each employee working remotely to attend regular cybersecurity safety training , as the threats today will differ a month from now .
3 . Require multifactor authentication wherever possible , ensuring employees confirm their identity via their phones before accessing sensitive files .
4 . Offer an encrypted VPN connection for employees to use when accessing secure information .
Steps Employers Can Take to Help
5 . Create a company email for employees to report potential cyberattack incidents .
If you are concerned about potential cyberthreats to your remote working organization , contact us today to learn more about our CYBERCLAW ® assessment to safeguard your data and minimize your overall cybersecurity risk profile . ■
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