The office is passé. People work from home now. A great thing, if you ask us, but cybersecurity professionals are probably tearing their hair out. Our home networks and personal devices have become much juicier targets for hackers and cybercriminals.
More than ever, we need to protect ourselves from cybersecurity attacks. How? Firstly, with a password manager. Create complex, long passwords in an instant without having to remember them. Never use the same password twice.
Pro tip: it's better to make passwords longer than it is to make them complex. Eight-character passwords are now easy to crack. Twelve characters are the bare minimum.
Secondly, secure your home network. We beg you, don't keep the default password on your router. Change its SSID and password at the very least. Limit access to its settings if your ISP allows you to.
Thirdly, use a VPN on public wifi. Protect yourself against anyone else connected to that shopping mall wifi. This counts both for your laptop and your phone. Oh, and pay for a good VPN. Free VPNs make money in suspicious ways.
Fourthly, as best you can, separate work from home. Don't send work emails with your personal email address – we're looking at you, Hillary – and avoid using personal devices for your work. Importantly, keep your kids away from your work devices. Gremlins attract malware.
Fifthly, enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible. Any banking website? Toggle MFA. Any social media website? Toggle MFA. Any ecommerce website? Toggle MFA. It makes your accounts so much harder to crack. Just make sure you store your backup phrase somewhere secure too.
Finally, never leave your devices in plain sight. Don't leave your laptop on the table as you order coffee. Don't leave your phone in the shopping cart as you shop for vegetables. And never leave your Nintendo Switch in the passenger seat of your car.
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