Tips for working from home securely

With many of us working from home again during Alert Level 4, we've compiled a few quick cybersecurity tips and reminders for you and the staff in your organisation/s.  

• Expect more phishing attacks. Working at home makes you a bigger target -you have more access to data and information.
• Beware of COVID-19 themed cyber-attacks. Cyber criminals are using the pandemic to trick people into downloading malware from COVID-19 maps or enter their details into phishing websites. Read the CERT NZ advisory.
• Do not respond to requests for personal or financial information in emails, texts, or instant messages.
• Be vigilant to fake company emails. Watch out for urgent requests that break policy, use emotive language and or bad spelling / grammar. Ask a colleague if you’re unsure whether an email is legitimate. Report it to your IT service desk if you have one.
• Back up your files. Save your files to online repositories such as OneDrive, SharePoint and/or your businesses network drives, so you don’t lose your work. This is really important from a business continuity perspective. Avoid saving locally to your computer.
• Maintain operational security. Watch out for eavesdropping and on-lookers, keep a clear desk, keep your password safe (do not allow other household members to use computer, lock your device (Windows + L) whilst you are away from it.
• The usual best practices still apply when working remotely:
  • Use a long password or passphrase, that you haven’t used elsewhere, to access any system.
  • Update your operating system and check that the software or apps that you’re using are up-to-date as well.
  • Make sure you have antivirus installed and are running regular scans.

Responding to cyber threats 

CERT NZ is your first port of call when you need to report a cyber security problem.