Cyber security in COVID-19: How to set up a cyber secure home office

July 20, 2020

In a short span of time, a home office has gone from “optional” to being nearly essential for many Canadians.
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed offices across the country, forcing many Canadians to work from home.
Home office cyber security has become more important than it has ever been. Here’s how you can protect your home office from cyber attacks and stay cyber secure during COVID-19.  

Secure your Wi-Fi

For many Canadians, their home Wi-Fi is the primary source of their internet, which makes protecting it against cyber threats essential. You can start securing your home Wi-Fi by:

• Changing the default password that was given to you by your service provider
• Enabling wireless encryption
• Turning on password protection

Make security a priority on video calls

With so many meetings that used to happen in-person now taking place virtually, many organizations have turned to video conferencing to help stay connected.
That has left many workers vulnerable to cyber attacks during meetings, which has made cyber security for video conferencing a new area of importance.
You can protect your video calls by:

• Being careful about what you share: Don’t post links to video conferences in public places. If you have sensitive documents or other information you want to protect, rely on email or even regular mail.
• Choosing a platform with security features: Different video software offers different security features. Try to choose one that offers features such as encryption and the ability to require passwords for video calls.
• Updating software: Software updates are essential for cyber security. That’s especially important for software tools, such as video conferencing, where you might be sharing private calls.

Update your devices

Software updates aren’t just about getting new features – they also contain important patches to help prevent cyber attacks.
It might be a habit to ignore update notifications, but you should run those updates for your computers,  devices, and applications as soon as they are available. This is especially important when working from home. For many employees, managing software updates is something they can leave to an IT team. But for those working from home – particularly if you’re using your own laptop or other device – you need to make sure that you are running those updates as soon as they’re available.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed many offices across the country. Now, Canadians are more responsible for their own work-based cyber security than ever before. By following these steps, you can ensure your new home office stays cyber secure.