Protect Your PC: How to Work From Home Securely

Working from home opens up security risks you just don’t face in the office. When IT staff isn’t available, these simple tips will help protect your company’s data as well as your own

- NEIL J. RUBENKING

Back in the pre-pandemic days, most offices had a clear division of labor: You sat in your cubicle doing whatever analysis or content creation your job entailed, and the IT department took care of security. That’s IT’s job, right? These days, though, that simple division is thoroughly blurred. If you’re one of the vast number of people who now work from home, you’re responsible for doing so securely.

Don’t worry—there are plenty of things you can do to upgrade your work-from home security, and many are simple to implement. Follow the tips below to make sure that you’re not the one who accidentally exposes all the customer records or leaks secret company plans to a competitor.

SECURE YOUR COMPUTER

If you’re new to working from home, chances are good you simply promoted your existing personal computer to be your work computer. For work, though, you need to take security seriously. Some folks skip antivirus protection altogether, on the basis that they’ve got nothing a hacker would want. They’re wrong, but that’s not important here. The point is, that attitude won’t fly when company data is on your device, so get an antivirus program installed right away. If you already have antivirus protection, check that it’s fully enabled and up to date. If you don’t yet have it, check with your boss—your company’s IT group may offer a free license for the official antivirus they’ve selected.