The Five Most Common Security Mistakes At Work

 

 

 

Passwords are the most common and most effective way to secure your devices but it’s easy to get complacent about them. A strong password will require upper and lower case characters, numbers and special characters. They should also not be specifically related to anything in a person’s life that can be easily deciphered, for example their birthday or their pets name.

 

With many different accounts employees must use sometimes, it’s not uncommon for them to use the same password every time or choose to use a weak password, which can greatly compromise the sensitive information for your business. If your employees struggle to remember passwords, have them use a password manager. It’s also very important passwords aren’t saved onto a personal browser’s history, we’ll explore this problem further along the article.

 

Company security policies can prove to be burdensome at times, they can be complex and sometimes downright annoying. It’s not uncommon for employees to use workarounds to bypass security protocols and therefore save time and be more effective. Whilst this is a well intentioned trick, it can lead to a huge amount of security risks. Hackers will normally look at saved passwords in a person’s browser, as well as their autofill option, It’s the easiest way for them to find out the information they need without much effort so it’s crucial that employees follow safety protocols such as these and make sure they’re staying safe!

 

In a work from home setting it’s normal to see employees using the same devices their family members or friends use. Whilst sometimes this is simply inevitable, it can be problematic. People may be unaware of certain security risks and may click on suspicious links or download files received from unknown email accounts. This is the main way hackers access devices and it can be an honest mistake that can cost a lot. If your employees are able to, they should not be sharing devices with anybody else. If this is a major concern for you and your enterprise, consider providing work laptops for your employees so they can continue sharing their personal ones.

 

Yes, that pesky button that keeps appearing every once in a while on your top right corner on your screen. Most people find these updates to be annoying and sometimes plainly unnecessary, but software updates do serve their purpose. The most updated machines are often the safest ones as they’ve updated all the services you use, including web browsing and firewalls as well as other anti-virus equipment. Encourage your employees to keep their machines updated as it’s a very simple step that can be incredibly helpful when fighting off cyber-attacks.

 

If you work with external vendors and contractors, be mindful of how much access you give them into your IT systems. It’s important to follow the principles of limited access, meaning giving them only the access to the part of the system they strictly need to fulfil their jobs. This is good practice and avoids ill-intentioned people from picking up information from you that you may not even realise has been stolen. 

 

Overall, cyber security is more important now than ever, so it’s essential to maintain good practices when you’re in and out of your office, keep your business and your employees safe from hackers.

 

Elizabeth Hines is a Technical writer who works at at Do My Assignment online service.       Image: Unsplash

 

 

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