Travelling, whether for business or pleasure, poses threats for people accessing the Internet. Public Wi-Fi is notoriously vulnerable and hackers use it all the time to commit identity theft and steal data.

Most of the time, hackers are taking advantage of a user’s ignorance and a lack of security, so when you’re on the move, here are some of the things you need to know about secure Wi-Fi.

Ad-Hoc Networking

Ad-hoc networking essentially means bypassing the wireless infrastructure and forming direct computer-to-computer links. This means a hacker could gain control of your system without you knowing about it.

You can turn this off from the control panel in Windows as many computers have this enabled automatically without users knowing about it.

Automatic Connections

Some computers will automatically connect you to any old network, if it’s available. Your computer should not connect you to non-preferential networks. Disable this option from the control panel.

Rogue networks setup by hackers for the sole purpose of stealing data can take advantage of computers automatically connecting to these networks and the worst part is your computer won’t even notify you when you’re connected to these networks.

Update Your Firewall

Nothing is more important than a firewall in preventing viruses and malware. It’s even more important when you’re connecting to a network that’s fundamentally unsafe. Before you travel, make sure you have the latest updates. This includes updates for your installed antivirus system and your standard Windows firewall.

Browsing Habits

The best way to make sure you don’t fall victim to hackers on your travels is to watch how you browse. For a start, you should try to avoid using these networks wherever possible. If you aren’t online there’s no threat.

When you do have to go online, make sure you stay away from certain types of websites. Obviously, you would stay away from unsecured websites, but you should also avoid performing any actions relating to online banking. Never transfer sensitive information through a public Wi-Fi network because it can be intercepted very easily.

Furthermore, you should make sure you clear your browsing history, cookies, and cache before and after you access the network. It’s always worth it because you never know what leverage a hacker may use to compromise your security.

Overall, public Wi-Fi is not a good option for accessing the Internet. Companies should make a point of instructing their employees not to work with company information whilst they’re using a public network.

 

Data security is a big issue for any company. With the threat from the Internet increasing every day, it’s necessary to train your employees to keep company information confidential. In this article, we will take a look at some of the steps you can take to improve the security of your organisation. Remember, the majority of data breaches come from an employee’s workstation, rather than an attack on a central database.

Use it Right

The problem many employees have is they visit websites they shouldn’t be visiting on company time. By Monitoring Internet traffic and preventing employees from visiting sites with security weaknesses, you can control the problem. 40% of employees visit malicious websites in their spare time without knowing it and if you do not stop this activity, it will impact the employee’s productivity.

When Employees Leave

Whenever an employee leaves you need to change their passwords and prevent them from gaining access to the network. It’s not as rare as you think to see a disgruntled former employee leaking information from the company.

Passwords and Secrecy

Encourage employees to keep their passwords to themselves. They shouldn’t share their information with other employees. The problems begin when everyone starts using everyone else’s workstations. It might be an innocent attempt at making it easier for people to retrieve files, but it prevents tracing.

Whenever a security breach happens, it’s important to trace where it came from and who is responsible. It’s impossible to do this when employees are using each other’s computers, logins and passwords. Make sure everyone sticks to using their own workstations.

Password Training

In most cases, you’ll have to rely on your employees to change their passwords on a regular basis. Train them how to choose strong passwords. They need to know what makes a strong password and why they’re more effective than weaker passwords.

The importance of this step is in the understanding. It’s more effective than telling people they need to create a strong password for the sake of it. People are more inclined to remember to do it when they understand the need for it.

Accessing Away

Stop employees from taking their files away on memory sticks without authorization first. A high proportion of employees take their information home with them and they don’t secure it. It makes the data vulnerable and it’s outside of the company’s control. You need to have a strict policy to combat this if you’re going to ensure a high level of data security.