The past year has led to WFH switches for as many as 47% of workplaces and, with around 87% of employees intending to stay remote post-pandemic, it’s fair to say that bring your own device (BYOD) is now a workplace norm.
This is great news in some respects, with employees better able to work where they are and answer emails outside of office hours. Unfortunately, cybercrimes have risen by an astounding 400% since 2020, and many employers blame BYOD for that risk. To overcome this, endpoint secure networks and monitored IT support are now standard security fare. But, that doesn’t mean that you don’t face your own responsibilities for keeping workplace information safe on your device.
After all, try as they might, managers can’t control every breach that occurs in this new landscape. As such, keeping sensitive data truly out of reach of prying eyes also requires cooperation from you in the following ways.
Always save files in centralised storage systems
Implementing centralised storage solutions via the cloud or other such secure networks was a priority for managers last year, and it’s already made a huge difference to data protection. Unfortunately, systems like these are only effective if employees use them. The moment you make the mistake of saving confidential data on your actual device in any form, you’re acting outside of workplace protections. That puts such information significantly at risk, as well as putting your job in potential jeopardy if anything goes wrong. To avoid both eventualities, it’s fundamental that you only ever save information in that centralised storage system, no matter what.
Update your antivirus software
You must also think about security precautions on your device itself. After all, even endpoint networks could come under risk if attackers gain access to the device that you use to get into them. If malicious software did come from your computer, it would be all too easy to track, yet again leaving your position at risk. Don’t let it happen by always keeping your antivirus software updated from this point on. That way, you can rest easy that you’re protected from attacks at all possible angles.
Keep everyone else off your device
If you were one of the thousands who found themselves working from home overnight last year, then you may still be making do with your family computer. It’s time to change that. After all, as well as leaving your work stuff at risk of prying eyes (kids get into everything, remember?) the more users a device has, the more risk there is of breaches occurring. This is especially the case in a family environment, where children often download or click on things that they shouldn’t. By instead making sure that you’re the only person with access to the device in question, you reduce risks tenfold and likely keep your boss a whole lot happier in the process.
Get these steps right, and you can finally start to enjoy the benefits of a BYOD landscape that looks set to change work as we knew it forever.
