Are you still working away from your usual place of work—perhaps in a park enjoying the sunshine before winter hits, or in a café?
Here are a few things to think about, so that your pleasant hour or two doesn’t leave you with a security problem.
- Can anyone see what you are working on?
If you are working on something that should be kept confidential, consider using a privacy filter to make it harder for others to see what you are doing. These are available for laptops and for mobile devices, called screen privacy filters.
Don’t forget to check that nobody can stand behind you and read over your shoulder—especially if you are entering passwords or working on something that shouldn’t be public.
And of course, be aware of what you are saying, if you make or take a work phone call in a public place.
- Is your device as secure as it could be?
Add a strong password, to make it difficult to get in, and remember to lock your screen when you’re not using it.
Consider using a password manager. Not only would a password manager remember those complex and unique passwords you’ve set up, it will enter them for you. This means that no-one can watch you typing them in. You just need to protect the master password.
- Is your internet connection secure?
Be wary of free wi-fi—you don’t know who is ‘listening in’ to your activity, or what could be installed on your device without your knowledge. Try to use your mobile hotspot instead of a public unencrypted wi-fi network.
Turn wi-fi auto-connect and Bluetooth off—and your firewall on.
Use a virtual private network (VPN), which creates a protected and encrypted ‘tunnel’ for your online activity.
- What if someone stole your device and therefore your data?
Consider encrypting your hard drive, so that if the device was stolen, nobody could get access to your data.
Backup your device regularly, so that you still have access to your data if the device was lost or stolen.
Consider storing all your data securely in the cloud, rather than on your device.
- If someone stole your device, what could they do?
Consider adding additional authentication methods, so that even if the thief cracked your password, they couldn’t get in to your applications (your bank account, for instance) without, say, a fingerprint, or a second code sent to a different device.
Consider logging out of apps on your mobile device when you’re not using them. Rather more drastically, if you are away from home for a while, you could consider removing any apps on your mobile device that you won’t need while you’re away. Then reinstalling these apps on your return. That way, if someone gained access to your mobile phone, they wouldn’t automatically get access to any apps you were logged into when you lost control of the device.
So, enjoy the last few days left of Autumn but be secure! If you’d like some more advice on keeping your information secure, please contact us or call us on 0113 733 6230
