{"id":1906,"date":"2020-03-22T15:28:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T11:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techxmedia.com\/?p=1906"},"modified":"2025-04-16T15:51:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:51:33","slug":"5-tips-cybersecure-home-office-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/5-tips-cybersecure-home-office-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips for a cybersecure home office experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Along with the\ncoronavirus upsurge, new \u201copportunities\u201d have blossomed for cybercriminals in\nat least two ways. First, the term \u201ccoronavirus\u201d is reaching unprecedented\nlevels of search volumes<\/a>, meaning that malicious\ndevelopers are updating their toolkits with coronavirus-themed scams, malicious\nlinks and sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, I\nwill focus here on a second \u201copportunity\u201d for cybercriminals \u2013 the increased\nnumber of employees who are working from home and outside of the usual\nprotections of corporate networks. This second vector greatly widens the attack\nsurface on the digital assets of a company and demands a higher responsibility\non the part of employees and management alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By taking just\na few extra steps, the employees of any company can greatly strengthen their\ndigital security stance against a possible attack while working from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on for 5\nbest practice tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Check your home router\u2019s settings and change the defaults.<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Working from\nhome means all your internet traffic passes through your home router.\nCybercriminals can attempt to hack your router, intercept your Wi-Fi traffic\nand ultimately gain access to your network. So, if you haven\u2019t reviewed the\nconfiguration options for your home router yet, now is the time \u2013 before your\nhome network and connected devices become compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Typically, you\ncan get to your router\u2019s control panel by typing something like\nhttp:\/\/192.168.1.1 in your browser while connected to your home network. From\nthere you can change a lot of settings that have a direct bearing on your\nsecurity. Make sure to change the default usernames and passwords that come\nwith your router \u2013 these can be easily searched online by a hacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For creating strong and unique passwords, I use ESET Password Manager (part of my ESET Smart Security Premium<\/a> subscription). Using a password manager is great because I only need to remember one long passphrase \u2013 my private keys to the kingdom<\/em> \u2013 and all my other account passwords are easily managed with a few clicks via the Password Manager:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    You should also change your SSID \u2013 that\u2019s the name of your home network. Looking at the SSIDs of Wi-Fi networks detected from my apartment, I see that a lot of neighbors are apparently using Huawei routers \u2013 that\u2019s free information for an attacker:<\/p>\n\n\n\n