At an age where cyber criminals lurk around every corner, employers cannot keep everyone safe online. It’s imperative that every staff member help fight off cyber threats alongside management. Are you taking the necessary precautions to keep everyone at your organization safe? Here are some proven ways to stay safe in cyberspace during work hours.
Create Unique Passwords
Passwords are the keys to the kingdom when it comes to your online accounts. Every account you use at your workplace or on the internet requires some sort of login credentials. Although they do, in general, keep your data safe, hackers can still get in without your permission. Make their lives harder with passwords that are hard to crack, but easy enough for you to remember when accessing your company’s SD-WAN.
Avoid Strange Emails
You may think that you just won $10 million in a random lottery that you don’t even remember entering, but calm down because that’s probably not the case. Hackers often send out unsolicited emails meant to steal your login passcodes, banking information, or legal identity. Fake emails contain links that, if clicked, could steal all sorts of information from you (without your consent, of course). Steer clear of any emails that seem even remotely strange to prevent unwanted damage to your career, finances, or digital devices.
Update Browser Security
Did your Microsoft Edge browser come out with yet another update? It may feel annoying to have to do so, but it’s important to install the latest updates whenever possible because they close vulnerable holes in the software. Browser developers do their best to create useful apps that cater to your browsing experience, but they aren’t perfect by any means. Any browser you use will come with vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to take over your browser, or worse, your entire computer. When a developer encounters an exploit, they will issue a patch that seals it right up with just the click of a few buttons on your part.
Refrain From Social Media Sharing
You may be excited about your new project at work, but social media isn’t the place to talk about it! All sorts of unruly characters exist in that arena: cybercriminals, hackers, and even stalkers. On top of that, you could run into legal issues, should you choose to share proprietary information with the rest of the world. Keep your accounts safe by keeping them private; people can’t steal what they don’t know exists.
Alert Management
Did you accidentally click on a link in a fishy email? Now isn’t the time to sit around and laugh about it! Pick up the phone or compose a new email to let your boss know what happened so they can take the necessary measures to protect the company (and you). One little misstep can lead to catastrophic problems, so it’s best to act fast in this regard. Sure, you may become the laughing stock at the water cooler for a day, but you’ll get to keep your job and possibly save the business to boot.
Secure Your Physical Desk
If you have a dedicated work area in the office, then you most likely have a ton of data sitting around. Although it may seem unlikely that an unscrupulous colleague or covert spy would come over to extract sensitive data from your desk, it’s still a good idea to keep things under wraps. Before you leave for the day, put everything under lock and key to stop data theft dead in its tracks. You can unlock your cabinets and drawers first thing in the morning when you arrive for work the next day.
Cybercrime is on the rise, and your workplace is the target. The good news is that you can deter bad actors and unfortunate events with purposeful activities that aim to foil them. This article outlines vital cyber security measures that keep your company data and business operations safe.
