During this COVID-19 crisis, a large number of people are working from home. This is naturally new to many of you.

Here are a few hints and tips to secure your work from home environment.

• Make sure to use or change to strong passwords and different ones for each of service that requires identification authentication: work log-ins, banking, Windows sessions, online shopping, smartphones, etc.

• Delete your navigation history every time you close your browser

• Save your office work on your computer as well as on your employer’s database

• Only use applications approved by your employer for the sharing of files, such as OneDrive, Office 365, Google Drive or Dropbox (Remember we offer support and licenses for Office 365, if you need it)

• Check regularly for any updates and install them, both for any applications and your computer

• Secure your home network by choosing a strong password for your router or Wi-Fi

• Do not share you work computer with other members of your family or with your friends

• Make sure to inform your boss or company of any security issue, or with your IT resource, such as an access to an unsafe website or a virus

• Remember to log off or even close your work computer when not in use

These days, you and the members of your household are most likely using the internet a lot more than usual, for communication, news and for fun ideas for things to do. Here are a few traps to avoid.

• Never open attachments or click automatically on links in emails, even if the sender looks legitimate. These emails could be fraudulent or contain viruses. Governmental or banking emails normally do not send attachments or links directly in their emails. Same thing goes for courier services (UPS, Canada Post, etc.), if you are not waiting for something, don’t open the email. A lot of these are phishing emails and these are also sent via SMS messages on your smartphone. Be vigilant!

• Back-up your computer regularly. If a bug happens, no matter how safe you are, you have not lost all your data

• As much as free antivirus programs are great, consider a paid service. We recommend to our clients Bitdefender

Keep your good habits when you return to the office and take advantage of this moment to prepare for the security of your return:

1. Change the name of your mobile phone
2. Download an antivirus to your mobile phone
3. Be aware of the risk of Sim swap if you opt for 2-factor authentication