Keep Your Work Private in Your Home Office
Is anyone else worried about accidentally sending a sensitive company email to their family or is that just me?
With so many more people working from home, a lot of employees and companies are getting worried about sensitive company information being exposed.
When an employee takes their work home with them, they are no longer under the same protection at their company’s office.
With that being said, there are things that can be done at your home to keep your job-sensitive information private. Let’s dive in!
Encourage Your Company to Send You a Computer/Laptop
Sure, computers can be expensive, but if your company has the financial means to send you a computer to use while working from home, they’d be dumb not too.
Why?
First, the computer they send you can have all of the software that you need to do your job built into it. If you need more expensive programs like Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, you don’t want to have to drop your own money to have it on your personal computer.
Also, the company can install better anti-virus software to make your computer less prone to being attacked or to having information stolen.
Keep Your Work Life and Home Life Separate on Your Computer
If you are lucky enough to get a computer sent to you by your company, don’t use it for anything other than your job. This means that you shouldn’t use it to sign into your private email, sign into social media, buy things online or do anything that can be harmful to your computer such as illegally downloading music or movies.
Treat your computer like it’s your boss’s dog, and its safety is in your hands. Don’t take advantage of the new computer by using it to get your personal business done, and only use it for its intended purpose.
Download Malwarebytes
Look, there are a ton of antivirus products out there. Unfortunately, a lot of them can do more harm than good to your computer.
However, Malwarebytes is just as good as everyone says it is. Malwarebytes scans your entire computer looking for anything that seems nefarious. If it finds anything, it destroys it and then restarts your computer.
It is completely free and won’t kill the shiny new computer your company gave you. Make sure you run it at the start and end of every workday so you can rest assured that nothing will harm your computer.
Use Good Passwords
You probably have a password or series of similar passwords that you use for your email, social media profiles, online accounts, etc. First off, that’s not a good idea. Everything should have its own, unique profile or else one password could give access to all of your personal information.
Instead, you should create unique passwords that cannot be guessed by someone who does some research on you. Basically, don’t make it your pet’s name, your last name, your favorite show, your favorite band or anything that can be guessed.
Use a random assortment of characters that you can memorize, and make that your new password.
Don’t Keep Physical Copies
If you print out your work, the information it contains is much more likely to be leaked. If you can, keep all of your information on your computer, then you can keep it safe.
However, if you have to print out some information, make sure that you have the means to keep it safe. If you can afford it or if you have one already, use a safe to store sensitive information. Keep it under lock and key and out of the eyes of nosy people.
