The Internet is a fascinating place – you have the entire world at your disposal with a single press of a button. But, it goes the same the other way round too – you, too, are at the disposal of the entire world. And the world of the web is filled with hackers from the dark side who are ever active and looking out for easy targets to exploit and blackmail.
All is heart and roses until they find you, and with the kind of cyber vulnerabilities that are doing rounds, they will find you today or tomorrow. And the people who are at major risk of being exploited are remote working employees. If they’re hacked, an entire organization comes under the radar of hackers. If hackers are able to infiltrate an entire organization, then millions of people sitting around the world are at the risk of data theft.
So, the security of an organization, especially, during the remote working culture that has become a trademark of the COVID-19 pandemic, depends upon the awareness of the employees. If you’re one of those people that we are talking about, then, here’s what you need to do to keep hidden from the eyes of hackers.
- Understand Phishing Better
Phishing attacks are what most employees fall prey to. So, what’s phishing?
Hackers send targeted emails that have specific details and the source looks very genuine. It looks so legit that it ends up coming in the inbox instead of the spam folder. Employees then end up clicking open such emails and if they click on the attacked links, a malware is immediately released.
- The malware can secretly steal the sensitive information without anyone realizing until the damage has been done.
- The malware can also lock you out of the system and then steal the information or ask for a random in return.
What makes these attacks more alarming is that it’s not possible to contact the security team quickly and inform them about a possible security breach. And before you know, the malware ends up in the inbox of other employees, risking the entire organization.
So, it’s up-to your awareness to protect the company. Here’s how you can do it.
- Change your password habits – use a strong login password and don’t share it. Do not connect with a public Wi-Fi at all.
- Pay attention in the awareness classes arranged by the company – they’ll teach you how to recognize a phishing attack. Naturally, if you can recognize one, you won’t click on one.
- Use Secure Work Network – By this we mean use the VPN network.
These are some of the things that might look less important right now, but these are the ones that make the entire difference in the end.
