Protect your data ahead of the holiday season
If you are planning on having people over for the holidays, be cognizant about who you allow to use your devices.
The festive season is upon us and this usually means welcoming family into our homes. In the era of virtual working, keeping your devices safe and secure has become imperative – even with family around.
Carl Lingens, CEO of African Vanilla Consulting in Wilgeheuwel, said even when you work from home it is fundamental to communicate with the IT department at your company to ensure that there is a security plan in place. “You need to ensure that your data is protected. Secondly, protect your own assets in terms of what you log into, what your kids log into, and for what purpose the device is used. This includes content being downloaded and software being installed.”
It is crucial to be aware of your surroundings – even virtually – especially if you use work devices for errands such as online banking. Password protections need to be in place and data encryption is vital on servers and end-user devices. The same way you wouldn’t leave your car unlocked, your hardware and data need to be protected.
In the past two years the traditional classroom changed to a virtual one with less monitoring. Lingens said minimising the time that children spend on a device is important for parents to keep them cyber safe. “You can’t always protect your children because you can’t be with them all the time. Instil common sense about what they are looking at. Parents can also ensure that certain software is in place to be aware of what they are looking at to block it. Monitor what sites they go on by checking the history, cookies and what they are signing into. There are apps and software such as Parental Control that can protect you. It also gives the child the sense that you are present and interested in their lives. Teenagers might not see it that way, of course.”
If you are planning on having people over for the holidays, be cognizant about who you allow to use your devices. Understand to whom you are giving your Wi-Fi password. ”In terms of monitoring, just block certain websites. You can get certain monitoring software that will see what people are logging into. You don’t want to be a killjoy but understand that you are the master of your IT domain. Boundaries are important, even with content. Remember that there is a human being on the other side of a device so communication is important,” Lingens added.
