Do Your IT Services In West Palm Beach Keep You Secure?

Working remotely may be convenient, but it’s not always safe

Are you putting your data at risk when you work away from the office? Your IT services in West Palm Beach should help you stay secure – try starting with the 10 tips below.

The modern workplace has changed quickly over the past ten years.

It’s easy to still picture the ‘90s standard – cubicles, water cooler, etc. But that’s not reality anymore.

IT services in West Palm Beach should empower you to work when and where it’s more convenient for you.

Businesses are hiring more and more remote workers – in fact, it’s the way half the country works every day. So many staff members that work from home, outside of the business’ city of operation, and even much further away.

To some extent that probably includes you. And no wonder – the convenience of being able to take your work to wherever you like is a fantastic benefit of current technology.

But it’s not all good…

IT Services In West Palm Beach Should Include Remote Work Security

With so many employees running around all over the place, working from a laptop or smartphone, how can you be sure that your data is completely secure? Are your IT services in West Palm Beach helping you maintain security outside of the office?

The 2018 Mobile Security Report uncovered that more than half of polled CIOs (52 percent in the US) believe that mobile workers in their employ had been hacked in the last 12 months.

Furthermore, an even higher portion of respondents (67 percent) suspect that WiFi-related security incidents occurred at cafes and coffee shops, and nearly half of the CIOs surveyed said Bring Your Own Device policies may have increased security risks

10 Tips For Secure Remote Work

• Manage Your Passwords. One of the best ways to maintain complex passwords is with a password manager. Password managers are the key to keeping your passwords secure.  A password manager generates, keeps track of and retrieves complex and long passwords for you to protect your vital online information. It also remembers your PINS, credit card numbers and three-digit CVV codes if you choose this option.  Plus, it provides answers to security questions for you. All of this is done with strong encryption that makes it difficult for hackers to decipher.
• Use A VPN. When you use a virtual private network (VPN), your data is encrypted, or hidden, as it moves from your device to the VPN and then continues onto the Internet. That makes it harder for an attacker to identify you as the source of the data – no matter whether you’re on your mobile device’s data connection, or using an unsecured retail Wi-Fi network while you’re in line for coffee.
• Implement a Mobile Device Management Policy
  An effective MDM policy should also instill safe and secure practices for employees that use personal devices for business purposes – and your IT services in West Palm Beach should help you develop one.
• Decide When And How Mobile Devices Will Be Used.
  Integrated into your internal network, these devices can be used to access, store, transmit, and receive business data. You’ll need to have policies in place to regulate how employees use their devices to interact with sensitive data.
• Consider How Mobile Device Use Can Pose Risks To Your Data.
  A risk analysis will help you identify vulnerabilities in your security infrastructure, and help you determine the safeguards, policies, and procedures you’ll need to have in place.
• Protect Your Personal Information Always double-check what you may be sharing on social media. With the wrong security settings, anyone can see what you post, including personal information that may make it easier for them to guess your passwords, answer your security questions, and pose as you online.
• Stay Safe While Mobile Don’t download apps that aren’t approved by your smartphone provider’s app store. Unauthorized apps are a common way for hackers to sneak malware onto your device. Always be skeptical of permissions you grant and the data you provide when using mobile technology.
• Check For The “S” You should know that reputable URLs now start with “HTTPS” rather than “HTTP”. It’s easy to remember – the “s” stands for “secure”. This is a key point to remember – have your IT services in West Palm Beach pointed this out?
• Public Wi-Fi It’s important to use discretion when determining whether a free Wi-Fi hotspot is really worth the risk. Keep these tips in mind when considering the risks of unsecured Wi-Fi:
• Keep An Eye On Your Hardware It sounds simple, but it’s important. Don’t let your phone or laptop out of your sight. Stolen devices can directly compromise your data. In the event that you do forget something at a coffee shop, make sure you have remote wipe capability so that you can remove any sensitive data from the hardware.
• Implement Stronger Security Settings  You know you shouldn’t trust default security settings, right? Just because a program is generally considered to follow standard security practices, that doesn’t mean that it’s as secure as it should be “out of the box”. Greater security often means less convenience – albeit, in small ways. Regardless, when it comes to modern products and services, the priority is usually to enhance the user experience, rather than configure the best security settings possible. After all, technology should be set up to better suit you, not the companies that develop it – don’t let default settings share too much of your data.
• Stay Up To Date Did you know that one of the most common ways that cybercriminals get into a network is through loopholes in popular software? Much of the software you rely on to get work done every day could have flaws — or “exploits” — that leave you vulnerable to security breaches.

To address this, developers regularly release software patches and updates to fix those flaws and protect users. This is why it’s imperative that you keep your applications and systems up to date.