The Covid19 epidemic has undoubtedly led to the relocation of several offices, as well as the adoption of new operating procedures, but there was a change in working from the conventional office long before it arrived on our shores.
Thanks to the work of some illustrious scientists, working on-line has become possible for many professions. It is true that email can be sent safely over the internet, but certain precautions must be taken to ensure that message security is not compromised.
The first thing about sending an email securely is make sure it’s impossible for anybody else to read. So you need to encrypt the message. When you send your credit card details over the Internet they are encrypted, which stops anyone listening in on your connection and reading them.
There are lots of ways to encrypt an email. The simplest is called ‘public key’ encryption, or PKE for short.
The proliferation of mobile devices has fueled our desire to work from any location, and the need to do so is only increasing. Technology has been our hero in this area, but one issue that may not have kept up with our rapidly changing times is data management outside of secure houses that we know as our business headquarters.
Whether it’s onsite in secure record centers or online, we’ve picked up a few best practices along the way that can help you minimize the risk of your information being hacked and increase your chances of never being compromised.
Let’s begin with the one thing that has the potential to lead us into compromising our privacy – our computers and how we use them. Whether you’re a business or a consumer, here are some critical best practices or reminders to keep your info safe:
- Installed software and apps have many pre-set requests. However, these pre-sets may not be in your favour, but you do have the option to alter them. Therefore, double check your privacy settings to ensure apps connected to your accounts are legit and necessary.
- It’s not just about Facebook and other social media sites. Your computer is home to lots of personal info, like your contact list, medical files, and even your taxes. Make sure you password protect everything and use different passwords for different sites.
- It’s critical to activate multi-factor authentication if it is available to you. It’s especially important that you protect your primary email account, since it ‘s likely that you’ll use this account to reset other passwords if you forget them.
- Two-factor authentication is a process whereby the user is prompted for two different forms of identification, usually something you know and something you have, to gain access to an account.
- Keep your operating software up to date. Many updates include increased security measures. Even if you’re running an older operating system, it can be worthwhile updating to the latest version.
- Find it hard to develop the habit of locking your screen when you step away from your computer? Alter your screen saver and set it to activate at the shortest suitable time setting.
- Secure your Wi-Fi connection by using a strong password and change it regularly. If you’re not sure how to do this, ask your IT support person.
- I know, I know… it’s a pain and you’ve heard it before, but it goes without saying that change passwords on a regular basis and choose passwords that are difficult to guess.
- Like most of us, if you love to browse and shop online you are in great company but it’s not necessary to save your credit card details on each website you purchase from. The extra few minutes to enter your CC details could be well worth it.
- Many of us know about the dangers of public Wi-Fi, yet we continue to use it without taking the proper precautions. Hackers can easily see what we’re doing online and steal our info, so be sure to use a VPN whenever you’re using public Wi-Fi
Protecting your online data is more important now, than it has ever been. If you are concerned about your companies Data and any possible Data Reporting Breaches, contact the team at Zircodata
