Working from home:
tips for individuals

Ask yourself, do I really need to give my information to this website or this person? If it doesn’t feel right, don’t share it.

Limit sharing

Don’t send business information to your personal devices, personal email accounts or other locations not protected by your organisation. And only use approved secure file transfer tools (corporate cloud file sharing applications) or other approved mediums when sharing information.

Limit public Wi-Fi

Don’t use public Wi-Fi especially when working on a company device or sharing sensitive information. Public Wi-Fi is prone to malicious attacks and cybercriminals can easily hack into these connections.

Avoid unknown links and attachments

Avoid clicking on links and attachments from unknown email senders. Especially those that are health related as scammers are exploiting people’s current concerns. The scams may claim to have a ‘cure’ for the virus, offer a financial reward, or be encouraging you to donate. Like many scams, these emails prey on real-world concerns to try and trick people into doing the wrong thing.^disclaimer

Dispose of sensitive information securely

Don’t just throw it in the trash or recycling bin. Any paperwork no longer required should be destroyed securely, especially if it contains sensitive information about customers, employees or the organisation. 

Use multi-factor authentication for an extra layer of security to keep your personal information safe.

Make sure devices are password protected

For example, if you’re using a laptop, make sure it is password-protected, locked and secure. Never leave it unattended – like in a vehicle or at a public charging station.

Be aware of current scams. If an email, call or SMS seems unusual, check it through official contact points or report it.

Call out incidents

Report any suspicious emails or messages via appropriate corporate channels. This enables Security Teams to protect others from similar suspicious messages at a time when we are seeing an increase in attempts to use email or malicious websites to solicit personal, often financial, information (phishing).

Set your software, operating system and apps to auto update to make sure you get the latest security features.

Turn on automatic software updates

Set your software, operating system and apps to auto update to make sure you get the latest security features. Software updates often fix weaknesses in operating systems and software, including apps, which hackers use to access computers and mobile devices.