Online risks of working from home or remote networks

Image source: forbes.com

It’s no surprise that cybercrime is on the rise given that more and more people are adapting work from home setup. It’s also common knowledge in the cybersecurity industry that cybercriminals often use times of social weakness like emergencies to employ their dirty deeds to cash in on poor unsuspecting victims. Unless you want to become a cybercriminal’s latest victim, it’s important to know online risks which comes with working from home or through remote networks.

Unsecure personal devices
Your office desktop most likely has an anti-malware or a form of cybersecurity program which protects it from most cybercriminal attacks or may inform your IT of ongoing attacks. But if you’re working from home using your personal device, cybersecurity might be lackluster. Using unsecure personal devices to connect to your company’s network could easily give cybercriminals the same kind of access.

Image source: youmatter.world

Coronavirus-themed attacks
Cybercriminals are known to use real-world emergencies like the COVID-19 outbreak to leverage their malicious emails. They could spoof reputable sources like your bank, the CDC, WHO, or other noteworthy sources of coronavirus updates in order to fool you into downloading a malicious file. If you are aware that your email should not be in a certain database, do not download rogue files. Likewise, if your bank is asking you to click a link and log-in your credentials for updated security purposes, call your bank first.

Choose your VPN wisely
Not all VPN are created equal. Some VPN providers have succumbed to attacks due to vulnerabilities in their systems. This has led to several breaches in corporate networks around the globe. Before you use a VPN service, check first whether or not they have been breached before or if they have previous run-ins with vulnerabilities.