Home Office Security Week

As many people continue to work from home, it’s a great time to ask yourself “When is the last time I did a security check up on my home office?” It is important to know some basic computer safety and security to protect yourself and your company from a potential data breach.

Is your computer’s firewall software and anti-virus software up to date and active?

A firewall is a security device that is designed to help protect your network by blocking unwanted traffic and malicious software from gaining unauthorized access to private data on your computer. Firewalls are important because they offer a first line of defense in your home network security. A firewall shouldn’t be your only line of defense. If you operate a home office, or have an internet-accessing device in your home that contains any type of personal information, you should also consider installing an anti-virus software.

Have you changed the default password on your router?

As with all other passwords, it is considered a best practice to update your passwords every few months. It is suggested that you change the default password on your Wi-Fi router after the first time you access it. This is important because the default password is relatively easy for hackers to figure out, and once they do they can then access your personal information and even lock you out of your Wi-Fi.

Is your data backed up?

If you regularly work with files that are local to your computer that aren’t saved on a server, you risk losing all of your work at any time. It is suggested that you back up all of your documents from your desktop (or other places that only store information on your computer) to a cloud storage, a shared drive, or even an external hard drive at the end of each work day.

How strong are you passwords?

Let this serve as your reminder to check the strength of your passwords, and update them if you need. A good password should have at least 12 characters, upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special symbols.

Some things to avoid when making a password:

• Anniversaries, famous years
• Names of pets, family members, children, spouses, celebrities
• Personal information like a phone number, social security number, address
• Keyboard patterns or sequences, such as qwerty, asdf, 12345, abc123

Things to consider to create a good password:

• Choose a word, as an example pamphlet
• Convert the word into a sequence of numbers and letters, such as pAMPh$3let

Things to consider to create a great password:

• Choose a phrase that you can remember, for example, Mint chocolate chip ice cream: If it isn’t green, why even bother?
• Reduce the phrase into the first letters of each word, and work in some numbers, capitalization, and punctuation like this: Mcc1c:Iii9,we6?