We have organized this guide based on whether you are working for a large or small business or as a freelancer. Everyone’s needs are different depending on their work and the magnitude of their organization.
Security risks while working remotely
Security threats are increasing with the increase in remote work scenarios. Now, the majority of organizations and companies are shifting to home-based work. It has caused a reevaluation of our network security threats and risks.
The basic mentality of naming public WiFi as risky and home networks as safe is no longer functional because onlookers are now capable of interrupting home networks.
We need to redefine network security as most of us now have access to sensitive data and information while working remotely from home or elsewhere.
Below, we have gathered the potential security threats to the home networks.
ISP data logging
Based on your location, your browsing history is recorded as data by your ISP. This data can be sold to third parties as information of your data profile by the service providers.
In 2019, an investigation about how ISPs handle their user’s location data and browsing history. Some ISP companies were caught selling the mobile location data of their customers to interested third-party buyers.
For those who have now started to work remotely from home, this is a serious concern. If you aim to keep your activities private and secure from ISP and prevent this information from being added to your data profile, you need to take some extra precautions.
Wardriving
Wardriving is the act of driving around a network looking for a vulnerable WiFi connection to hack. Some of the networks require relatively more effort to break in and hack than the public WiFi connection, they are still a normal target for corporate hackers.
Wardriving occurs because WiFi passwords are relatively simple and aren’t changed often. Routers are also left outdated without installing the latest firmware and security wall updates.
With so many people working remotely and having access to sensitive information on their home networks, there are open opportunities for hackers to ward off. We need to adopt all the necessary means to prevent this type of attack.
Do you trust your network traffic?
It is very easy to intercept and obtain someone’s data if both are connected to the same network. This is why we should avoid connecting to free WiFi hotspots.
Any malicious user can hop on the network and with adequate tools, retrieve or intercept data packets of the traffic present on the same network.
However, the majority of people are now working remotely from homes and therefore, public WiFi networks are no longer a risk as much as home network attacks. You should ensure that you trust everyone who is connected to your home network because they can have visibility on your work. Even if the network is being used by family members, protecting your data must be the priority.
Advice for freelancers
Need of VPN
A Virtual Private Network is software that establishes an encrypted connection between the internet and your device. If you are a freelancer then it depends on your line of work whether you need a VPN or not.
Answering the following questions will assist you to decide whether you need a VPN or not:
- Do you work with sensitive data? The sensitive data can include:
- Personal data
- Financial data
- Commercially sensitive information
- Clients personal information
- Do you access things online that you don’t want to be logged by the ISP and browsed by the market? This can include:
- Research about controversial topics
- Health and medical materials
- Data you don’t want to be associated with.
If your answer is ‘yes’ to any of the above-mentioned questions, it is recommended that you consider getting a reliable VPN connection. The VPN helps to encrypt the network connection to hide your online activities from the ISP and any onlooker on the network.
If you don’t manage and deal with sensitive data and are not worried about ISP logging and checking your activities, you won’t be needing a VPN. For example, If you are a simple graphic designer working from your home.
Advice for small business
Need of VPN
A Virtual Private Network is software that establishes an encrypted connection between the internet and your device. If you are a freelancer then it depends on your line of work whether you need a VPN or not.
Answering the following questions will assist you to decide whether you need a VPN or not:
- Do you work with sensitive data? The sensitive data can include:
- Commercially sensitive information
- Clients personal information
- Personal data
- Financial data
- Do you need to access the company network? The access requirement could be based on the following activities that often take place in an office:
- Using custom tools or software like VOIP
- Accessing the data on the LANs
If your answer is ‘yes’ to these questions then you must consider using a small business VPN. Instead, if you have to access the company network for any reason, you should use a VPN for a secure passage for the safety of the organization’s data.
If your answer is ‘no’ to the above-mentioned questions, you are not working in a position where using a VPN is necessary to stay secure while working.
Advice for large business
Need of VPN
A Virtual Private Network is software that establishes an encrypted connection between the internet and your device. If you are a freelancer then it depends on your line of work whether you need a VPN or not.
Answering the following questions will assist you to decide whether you need a VPN or not:
- Do you work with sensitive data? The sensitive data can include:
- Personal data
- Commercially sensitive information
- Clients personal information
- Financial data
- Do you need to access the company network? The access requirement could be based on the following activities that often take place in an office:
- Accessing the data on the LANs
- Using custom tools or software like VOIP
If your answer is ‘yes’ to these questions then you must consider using an enterprise VPN. Instead, if you have to access the company network for any reason, you should use an enterprise VPN for a secure passage for the safety of the organization’s data.
If your answer is ‘no’ to the above-mentioned questions, you are not working in a position where using a VPN is necessary to stay secure while working.
Conclusion
Remote work is on peak these days after the global pandemic commenced working from home routine. Certain cyber threats become more prevalent while using a home network. In workplaces, there is a professional IT team to take care of cybersecurity and the loss of any sensitive information.
With a distributed workforce working for small and large organizations, employees have to pay more attention to their network security themselves.
As mentioned earlier, using a reliable VPN can protect your network connection from malware attacks and onlookers from extracting any information from your workplace.
