Here at Tripwire, we, like many others, recently surpassed the one-year anniversary of working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March of 2020, we have converted kitchens, spare bedrooms and garages into office spaces. Our pets and children have become our coworkers, and companies are reporting a sudden increase in shirt sales as opposed to pant sales.

This unique transition has required flexibility to adapt to a new environment, and with that new environment has come a different set of security practices. Although many of us have finally established a rhythm when it comes to working from home, it is worth reminding ourselves of some important security practices every remote employee should be implementing.

Lock your devices

Be sure to lock devices when you step away from the desk. It is important to keep sensitive information hidden from children, partners, roommates and visitors. On most devices, this can be done via a quick keyboard shortcut. If you are diligent about doing this, it can become habit, and you no longer have to think twice about locking your screen as you get up from the chair. This shortcut is Command + Control + Q on a Mac and Windows + L (for “lock”!) on a Windows machine. Give it a try!

Secure your router’s password

Many of us were not the ones to manually set up our home’s router, so what you may not know is that your router, just like your wireless access, can be logged into. Once you’ve logged in via a username and password, you can make changes to network settings. As with any other piece of software, this can be problematic if an unwanted user gains access. Routers are often set up with very basic passwords by default, such as “admin” or “12345.” (Read more...)