The office might be secured with top of the line security measures, but what happens the moment you step into unknown ground or may be forced to work from home? Since the rise of the latest Covid 19 virus that has literally hit the world by storm, many organizations or companies have suggested that their employees work from home.

I’m not suggesting that working from home or anywhere else but the office is deemed as unsafe, but, it’s always wise to inculcate the same official securitative measures throughout your work – no matter where you are.

By staying safe, I mean adapting to your new surroundings. You may think, “But why is this important?” It’s important because the new environment, whether home or from a coffee shop, is not what you’re used to, it’s not equally protected since you didn’t actually expect to work from home. However, there are many ways to keep your cool and work as efficiently as you can, even out of the comforts of your own home.

Ways to create a secure working space outside the office

There are a couple of ways you can stay safe, and that doesn’t include setting up multiple latches and locks on your front door. Remember, when you’re working outside the office that means you’ve been trusted to carry extremely important official information and files around with you.

To make sure, you’re doing everything right, here are a few tips to consider:

Wifi sources

Firstly, if you aren’t anchored in your own home, and decided to wander off into a café or coffee shop, this is for you. Never use a public Wifi without being equipped with a software that will encrypt and secure your traffic and device. You might already be exposed to great security measures at the office, but this changes as soon as you step out. There are many top of the line VPNs such as Astrill VPN, ExpressVPN etc that you could invest in. This will encrypt your data and protect your device from the many prying eyes that you would never suspect are watching you.

Don’t leave your devices unattended

This is one of the best ways to create a secure work routine, not just for your boss, but mainly for you. As I mentioned above, you could be entrusted with some really heavy files and if accessed by the wrong hands, this could get you in all sorts of trouble. And that’s not what you want right? It doesn’t just take software for precautions but also depends on what you can do on your own. Lock your screen or device whenever you hear nature calling and decide to take that bathroom break! And secondly, never leave your devices lying around if you’re not at home. We have sticky fingers everywhere.

Extra safety measures are a lifesaver

We all have crazy fans or stalkers waiting for a chance to hack into our social media accounts, dying to impersonate you. For this reason, most of us have learned a good lesson from experience and have settled for two-factor authentication means. It goes a long way where security is concerned. In the same way, there are many occasions where big corporate accounts are hacked, data stolen and have data wiped out clean. You should always secure your apps, files, and accounts with double authentication means. And never share your passwords or codes with anyone, and I mean anyone!

All work and no play

That literally means if you have to work make sure you do everything necessary for it to run smoothly. There are times when you might not be allowed to carry home an office laptop, and are told to transfer all your files into your drive. The only way to actually be able to work from home is by using your personal desktop or laptop. Sometimes, you might accidentally send in the wrong files to your boss only because you didn’t separate your work files from your home files. Besides the need to make separate folders, also make sure you compartmentalize your browsers, separating your personal Netflix tab from your official website accounts.

Don’t get phished

As mentioned above, working from an unsecured environment could easily trigger off threats and you could lose a lot while you’re at it. When working from home, and not equipped with a company’s VPN or anti-virus software, this might leave room for you to accidentally click on the wrong link or email. You might accidentally assume it’s a work email and click on the link; in-turn costing you a lot of sensitive files or data. The hackers could easily infiltrate and give your entire device a thorough sweep. Always invest in a software that can detect threats.

Keep updated

Don’t slack off just because you’re working outside the office. Make sure that the device you choose to use is always updated. Updating it could keep your device clean and rid of unwanted bugs, viruses or even speed up the speed of your online activities.

Use what’s yours

Keeping things into serious perspective, if ever you’re out and about and your device happens to die out, I beg you, always carry your own charges or charging ports. Never ask a stranger for a charger and more importantly, never ask a stranger for a USB charger, especially if you’re thinking of leaving your device with them and unattended. There’s so much wrong with that picture. Your devices could either be hacked or filled up with viruses.

Be alert

Another way for you to stay secured when working from home or anywhere else is to always make sure you are aware of your surroundings. If you think that the kind of work you do is of extremely sensitive nature, always choose a spot that isn’t within public view. Apart from that, there are chances where a hacker doesn’t need you to click on an unsecured link, but could just hover over your screen, and screen through that email and password you just entered. You might think this is unimportant, but that’s precisely how I got my Facebook account hacked.

To conclude

It’s not rocket science to be able to maintain a secured working space for you, outside the office. In fact, many people should take this seriously. Taking up serious security measures will help you keep your job!