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BBB Tips: 10 tips to stay cyber secure when working remotely
October 26, 2020WISCONSIN BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
BBB Tips: 10 tips to stay cyber secure when working remotely
Tips provided by M-Theory, a BBB Accredited Business.
Milwaukee, Wis. – Several companies are still practicing safe work from home guidelines as a way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 or have adapted their employee policies to continue this practice.
While health officials continue to advise the best way to stay safe, here are 10 best practices for staying cybersecure while working remotely:- Remember to save your work and lock your computer when stepping away from your desk. This applies to personal and corporate PCs alike.
- Log off. When you are finished for the day, log off your remote PC. Don’t just lock it or disconnect from it without logging off.
- Password protect your office cell phone.
- Don't click. Watch for any coronavirus (or other) communication asking you to click a link, login or supply a password. These messages should be viewed with extreme skepticism. Read more on phishing scams.
- Never open an attachment, click on links, or reply to messages unless you are 100 percent certain that the source is legitimate and that the communication was expected.
- Call to verify. If you get an e-mail requesting you to do a favor for your manager (like purchasing Target gift cards or wire transferring money), always call the person to verify before acting. Many of these requests are bogus; see BBB's study on Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams.
- Don't allow remote IT support without verifying the source. Your IT department will communicate with you first before connecting to your computer. If anyone you don’t recognize calls you and claims to be with your IT department and asks you for your password, Connectwise, Automate, Machine, or TeamViewer ID or other sensitive information, hang up and call your IT department to see if the request was legitimate. Read more on tech support scams.
- Do not accept unsolicited support calls claiming to be from Microsoft, Apple, or other vendors.
- Avoid pop-up numbers. If a message box pops up with a phone number in it, do not call the number.
- Always run anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computers, particularly home PCs. Ensure that your subscription and antivirus definitions are kept up-to date. Also ensure that Windows PCs are rebooted regularly and that Windows Updates are routinely installed on home systems.
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Report scams to BBB Scam Tracker.
For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2019, people turned to BBB more than 183 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.8 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Serving Wisconsin which was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.Contact:Lisa Schiller, Media Relationslschiller@wisconsin.bbb.org, (414) 847-6055