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Tony Barnes, Managing Partner talks cyber safety in one minute…
I’m continually asked to give cyber advice – including the basics in rapid time – so in this series ’60 Second Cyber Safety’ I will try to give you as many simple, usable tips that I can on one cyber subject in One minute flat.
Today we are talking about working from home. With Covid19 the world is shifting online and working from home is what we are all doing.
So here’s the Top 5 Basics to know and do about safe working from home in sixty seconds….
1. The weakest link is you –– why? – well, we are all so trusting and easily fooled. Hackers attack people, not devices.
Offers that look too good to be true, generally are – no you didn’t win a lottery you didn’t enter!
Emails pushing urgency, fear, crisis, with bad spelling and grammar, asking you to ‘click now’ are red flags so delete, inform work and move on.
2. Your home network starts at the WIFI box –
If you haven’t changed the admin access credentials it came with then anyone can log-in and lock you out.
Get the default password from Google (like a hacker would) and change them.
3. It takes moments for hackers to crack short, simple passwords
So use strong long unique ones for every site and device.
Ideally use two or more of the four keyboard character types to make them unbreakable – ABC xyz 123 !@#
Long pass-phrases are easier to remember than random strings (i.e.: thisisreallygoodprotection). An encrypted password manager helps to remember them for you. I like www.dashlane.com but there are plenty to choose from.
And most importantly – always use two step authentication where offered – as a txt message or better still from an authenticator app like Google Authenticator or Authy.
4. Always run the newest version of everything. The good guys release security updates to close vulnerabilities so install them immediately.
5. Split home use hardware use from work hardware – and make sure everyone knows it’s not ok to use your work devices. Kids are curious and it’s too easy to accidentally erase or infect the device.
What to know more? Here’s some useful resources for a deeper dive…
https://www.cisa.gov/cyber-safety
It’s a hyperconnected world – so go safe.
