Protecting your home office PCs means you are protecting your business and the data of your customers. Below is the checklist in safeguarding your Home Office PCs:
Step I – Install advanced security protection software
To help protect the computers and data from unwanted and malicious files, install anti-virus and anti-malware software. There’s effective anti-virus software in the market and it is a good idea to find a great deal of security solution. Get security protection software that will not only protect from malware but also include scanning and protection to removable drives, web-based threats, malware SPAM, two-way firewall, anti-fraud and unwanted software, also
known as Rogue software. Check the Top 5 Anti-virus and Anti-malware Software for Home PCs.
Step II – Keep your software up-to-date
Secunia mention in their blog that 81.01% of computers are using vulnerable version of widely-used software. Most software offers automatic update mechanism, take advantage of this function to help prevent exploit and vulnerability attacks. You can also install Update Management software that will alert you for new updates and upgrade.
Step III – Backup and check integrity of your backups
This is one of the important To Do by users especially if you are a business or home office user. You do not want to lose any data by your customers. Create a regular backup and ensure that the backups were checked for its integrity. Note: You can create a local backup or off-site backup.
Step IV – Access control and Network Security
Home Office PCs are connected to the workplace to be able to share and modify files. It is very important to control which computers can access another computer in your network. Maintain a strong password and only allow the computers in your network to access the other computer. Any other devices should be registered as “authorized” device. Restrict users in your network by giving them limited user account. If you are using Windows Vista, you can take advantage of the User Account Control (UAC) that will minimize the risk of users changing important system settings.
Step V – Check the Security Policy and its status
To help prevent data loss and security risks, it is important to create a security plan. Review the status of the above steps (Protection Software, Software Update, Backup, Access Control and Network Security) and ensure that all these are running as per your policies and that there’s no changes made by intruders or rogue users. See also,