employees using personal computers at work

#Employees using personal computers at work Pc#

If your employer gives you access to a portal or remote access environment such as Office 365, you can work online and avoid downloading or syncing files or emails to a personal device. Essentially, by introducing a personal computer to a work network, even remotely, you’ve put the company networks at risk, and yourself at risk, accepting the potential liability of extensive corporate damages though violations of policy, practices or both. Without those running in the background, your personal computer is not safe for work information because it could be compromised by a third party. Furthermore, your company can likely afford higher end technical controls that you can personally. There is a good chance you have not followed the same protocols with your personal computer as are mandatory at work. If you work at an organization with an efficient IT team, they may be installing regular updates, running antivirus scans, blocking malicious sites, etc., and these activities may be transparent to you. This is a risk for you and for the company! With that said, it can be tempting to use your personal computer if your work computer is in a different room or you forgot your charger at the office. Thinking about taking care of a few emails at home before bed? If you take precautions like using your work computer, secure Wi-Fi, a VPN, encrypted drives, anti-virus, and endpoint protection, this may be totally fine. Many of these connection types (RDP, HTTPS, SSH) include encryption as part of their service direction and do not require an additional VPN or another encryption service to secure the data in-transit. Lastly, for some use cases, you can also set up encrypted remote connections into a remote desktop or another individual server. Keep in mind that VPN services provided for privacy purposes only protect the data to and from the VPN provider, not to the destination so are not suitable for protecting remote access. Keep in mind that not all VPNs are worth the money it’s a good idea to evaluate your must-haves before you choose a VPN technology. VPNs provide a flexible connection to connect to different services (web pages, email, a SQL server, etc.) and can protect your traffic. If your company provides cell service, there’s no reason not to use the hot spot to avoid public Wi-Fi especially given that, in many cities, 4G or 5G service is almost as fast as your home network access.įor many remote access applications, you should use a VPN. Of course, it will count against your data, but the cost is minimal relative to the potential downside of a significant hack to your company’s systems or computer. With most major carriers, you can pay a nominal fee for the capability to set up a private Wi-Fi network with your cell phone.

Although your web traffic will be unencrypted between the hotspot and its destination, using a hot spot does eliminate the problem of getting hacked by people on the same public Wi-Fi. One good option is to use a personal hotspot from a dedicated device or your phone.

#Employees using personal computers at work Pc#

It is important to find a way to protect your PC and encrypt your traffic. Second, any interested observers on either the current network or any other public networks your data hits between you and your workplace can monitor your traffic as it goes by. First, other people have access to that network and, without a firewall between you and them, threat actors can pound away at your computer from across the room. If you need to access the internet from a public Wi-Fi location, you have two essential problems to solve. Public Wi-Fi introduces significant security risk and should be avoided if possible. Avoid public Wi-Fi if necessary, use personal hotspots or some way to encrypt your web connection.Here are some of the policy guidelines we suggest when you or your employees are outside the office: Digital Security While Working Remotely However, when computers leave the perimeter and people work remotely, new risks arise for the company and additional security policies are essential. While not perfect, it is harder to make a security mistake while at the office. When an employee is at the office, they are working behind layers of preventive security controls. Remote work presents a unique challenge for information security because remote work environments don't usually have the same safeguards as in the office.