After the year 2020, it is seen that people have opted for many new changes in their lives. Everything isn’t the same anymore, from attending classes, work meetings, watching movies, and playing games online. Today, the concept of work from home feels like the new normal. As we stepped into 2021, we saw the possibility of remote work or home offices become common in our careers. Today, many companies and institutions offer the opportunity to permanently work from home or develop flexible or hybrid methods. This whole concept was once a rapid action to this ongoing pandemic but can become permanent.
According to the Global Workplace Analytics survey, 68% of respondents out of the 3000 globally are working from home, 77% of them are satisfied and feel more productive, and their managers think they are more effective when working from their own home with their comfort.
Gen-Z primarily intends to go for the hybrid work lifestyle, shifting between working from home and working at the office in today’s world. But to properly function with this change, we need proper resources. We might have a comfortable desk, a smart speaker, a computer, and a microphone to attend meetings, but the immediate help we require is uninterrupted network connectivity. Even if we are not working, we don’t want our movie or game to buffer often, and we want the best quality while streaming, and we want uninterrupted connectivity with all our devices at home. All these issues related to connectivity can be solved by only one crucial component – A good wifi router. If your old router cannot live up to your requirements, maybe it’s time for an upgrade.
Today, there are numerous routers available in the market. Unfortunately, some are just not good enough, and some are just way too much for your requirements. If you see a wifi Router for your daily office work, entertainment, you want all your devices to be connected all the time with improved range, wifi Stability, and speed all over your home.
Home is the place every person wants to be at the end of the day. If you google home, you will find definitions and explanations of the word. But it is more than that. A home is a place where our loved ones reside. And now in this covid era, our offices are shifted to our homes. This shift of the offices towards our homes may be comfortable, but it has increased the risk of a cyber-attack. Hackers may find something in you and quickly get to your personal information if you are not alert.
You must have heard, “Data is the new oil.” According to the statistics, there has been a massive increase in the cyber attacks on America in the covid era and post covid period. The war is changing now; conventional wars have become a distant past; instead, cyber wars are being fought between nations. And to be frank, no one is going to save you from this war. The only person who can prevent your participation in this war is you. You have to be alert and up to date with the knowledge to protect yourself and your loved ones.
We both can put a firewall around your home to enhance security. So let’s get started. Here are eight points to help you build a firewall around your home.
- Update your devices
Your computer and apps get regular security updates. Update them to the latest version with every update; they fix some loopholes that a hacker can exploit. Latest security updates add an extra layer of security to your system. These security updates are usually known as security patch updates.
- Antivirus softwares
One of the most effective techniques is email. When working from home, you would be dealing with a lot of emails. Antivirus software keeps a check on all those files you download from the mail. Antivirus filters out all the viruses and malware of hackers to fool people before letting you see anything you download from the internet.
- VPN is a savior
If the employer provides your computer, then it usually comes with a VPN. If you are working on your computer, you must use a VPN to encrypt your data and secure your connection. A VPN encrypts your data to protect it from prying eyes; no third person can understand it. This makes the VPN a good tool for sharing important files over the internet. Vpn changes your IP address temporarily (actually doesn’t change but masks your IP), so when anyone sees you online, he doesn’t the real you but some other identity.
- Beware of the scams
A lot of scams are also happening because of this covid situation. Many people have reported scams regarding vaccination and tests. Many of these scams promise the vaccination first to you against a fee. These scammers ask for your info, which you could use against you at any given time in the future. Do not share your bank details, card details anywhere on the internet.
- Passwords
Use strong passwords for your devices and accounts. One of the key points people forget is that they have to change their passwords after some time to reduce the chances of hacking. Always choose a problematic password instead of a name or anything dear to you. Store your password at a secure place where only you can access it. You should also enable two-factor authentication for improved safety or google authentication, for that matter.
- Personal identifiable information
Any information that a cyber-criminal can use to locate a person is known as personally identifiable information. It can add your name, address, phone number, social security number, IP address, etc.192.168.2.1 is a private IP address that comes in use for school and many commercial places. Do not share any of this information with strangers over the internet. This information can help a cyber-criminal track you down quickly.
- Backup your data
Always backup your data if a cyber-attack happens to you; you could access your important information. Backup does not reduce the risk of cyber-attack, but it helps you buy some time after the attack. Backing up also prevents the loss of critical information to the virus or malware. You can permanently delete the data from the place after backing it up.
- Wifi and intelligent devices
Wifi has always been considered a weak point in the cybersecurity world. Wifi is the main target of hackers as they can get most of the information from wifi. Smart devices are also proved to be vulnerable to privacy. Many third-party apps are found to be recording the voices in the background. These third-party apps sell your information to the company for financial aid.
Covid has been hard for all of us. As the offices moved to homes, crime moved online. Around 4000 cyber-attacks are happening daily in the covid post period.
Security has always been the root of the necessity for a home, and if the security is breached, then does it even be called home anymore. Be alert and be aware. These attacks are only going to increase shortly. You can also share this information with the people you care about.