Working from home? Protect your data!

For many Belgians, Covid-19 has become synonymous with working from home regularly – even all the time. But can you be sure your teleworking is totally secure? To protect your data, stay alert and follow these simple tips:

• Beware of links and attachments in messages: Only download files you know to be safe and never open an attachment you think might be suspicious (even if you know the sender). If you are asked to do so, do not provide any personal information in an online form. That’s because phishing (stealing your data) often targets the world of business.
• Keep your software up to date: At a time when everyone is working online from home, keeping your software up to date is more important than ever. If a procedure seems too complicated for you, ask for help from your colleagues or your company’s IT department.
• Never share your login or password with anyone: That may sound obvious, but when you’re working remotely it can sometimes be tempting to do so. Make sure you don’t share any sensitive information. And if you really have no other choice, use an end-to-end encrypted application such as Signal or WhatsApp, then delete the message.
• Make regular backups, or use the cloud: That way, if anything goes wrong with your computer, your precious documents will still be saved elsewhere.

For other tips about working from home, especially about your router, antivirus software and firewall, see the full report of Test Achats on the topic.