CAPE TOWN -
Working from personal devices has become a necessity for some small organisations during the Coronavirus pandemic which is why it’s to businesses need to follow IT security requirements to protect employees while working from personal devices.
According to global cybersecurity company, Kaspersky57 percent Small Business Enterprises (SME) employees were not provided with corporate devices from their employers,
While only 34 percent have received instructions on how to securely work on personal laptops, tablets and smartphones while at home during the pandemic lockdown.
The cybersecurity company said businesses must remember to protect these devices from cyber risks so that sensitive business and customer data stored on them remains safe, and employees can work without downtime as a result of ransomware or other malware infections.
Here are a few IT requirement recommended to protect your business and employees.
Home devices should be protected with an antivirus solution.
Device operating systems, as well as applications and services, should be always updated to the latest versions.
Password protection should be switched on for all devices, including mobiles and Wi-Fi routers. If a router has a default password it should be changed to a new and strong one.
Home Wi-Fi connections should be encrypted, ideally with the WPA2 encryption standard. This can be done in router settings.
A VPN should be used if an employee is using unknown Wi-Fi hotspots.
Use a security solution that enables device and server encryption and creates backups for all corporate data – this will help to restore data quickly in case of a ransomware infection.
Provide employees with a list of reliable cloud services that they can use to store or transfer corporate data.
Conduct basic security awareness training for your employees.
Ensure your employees know who to contact if they face an IT or security issue.
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