What The Tech: Working from home security – KFDX – Texomashomepage.com

Leaving the house may increase your chances of contracting COVID-19, but working from home may make you more susceptible to another kind of virus. A computer virus. The cybersecurity firm RISKIQ predicts the coronavirus outbreak will give hackers one of their best opportunities in recent years to attack computer networks around the world.

There are many reports that hackers are busy targeting people working from home on their work computer and if you dont have someone from IT a few cubicles away youre it. Here are some things you should do the next time you fire up your computer.

One of the most important things is to keep your software updated. On just about any software you can click the help or support tab at the top of the page, and then check for updates. You might need to ask your IT person before updating. Most of these updates include security fixes to address any vulnerabilities.

If you seldom turn off your computer but just put it to sleep, get in the habit of turning it off at least once a week. When you turn it back on itll automatically search for and install updates on the operating system. This is especially true and important if you use a Windows computer. Enable 2-factor authentication. If you log out and then back on, youll have to allow the program or social media site to send you a text message to make sure youre you and not some hackers trying to access your accounts. Do this for any online account including Facebook, Google and even Netflix.

Its a hassle, I know. You can also pick up one of these security keys. This is a Yubikey. Insert it into a flash drive on your computer and anytime youre logging into certain accounts, you can just tap the key so it sees your fingerprint.

If youre on your work computer it probably has anti-virus and anti-malware programs. If youre on yours though, make sure you have something to protect yourself from viruses and malware. If youre looking for something good, free and safe, AVG guards against hacks and C-Cleaner scans your computer for problems and eliminates them. Malwarebytes focuses on malware searches for programs that could cause problems that youve accidentally downloaded from the internet.

The best thing you can do, is to be careful about any links you click, whether its on a website, social media site or in an e-mail. Dont click on anything without asking yourself, can I really trust it? But if youre working on your companys laptop or connecting to the companys network servers check with the IT department before downloading or installing anything.

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What The Tech: Working from home security - KFDX - Texomashomepage.com