Remote work is a far more common occurrence across the employment landscape than it was five years ago. Not only has it become a measure for people to strike a healthier work-life balance, but it’s fostered a new means of business management and collaboration. 

With a more distributed workforce, naturally, networks face new challenges and demands. 

One of the key ones is cybersecurity, and a lot of that emphasis falls on the workers themselves. Below are our top five tips for how freelancers and remote workers can keep their and their client's data safe.

Secure your home network

As a freelancer, you manage your own network security and, unfortunately, many freelancers just rely on their router’s default settings. That may work on the odd occasion, but taking the time to strengthen your network is going to reduce vulnerability to cyber-attacks and, ultimately, make it easier for you to sleep soundly at night knowing you and your clients’ private or sensitive information is secure within your bubble. 

With a little knowledge behind you, you may even wind up considering creating a separate network for work activities, keeping it isolated from personal devices and smart home devices. This can help protect sensitive work data from vulnerabilities in other devices. 

Use VPN protection

A reliable VPN encrypts your internet traffic and protects your data. Using a VPN becomes more important if you’re taking your laptop or other devices to public Wi-Fi spots, which can be particularly vulnerable. 

A VPN download is available for all your smart devices for greater privacy online, blocking intrusive ads, pop-ups, and trackers. Look for a provider who has been tested by independent auditors for security.

Update your systems

We see an update notification come in and typically sight. It’s not often they don’t feel disruptive. Push it to tomorrow and the day after and the day after… until it’s just another notification lost among others. 

However, these updates often contain important security patches that protect against vulnerabilities. Set aside a little time for updates, perhaps at the end of your working day, to make sure your systems stay protected.

Browser extensions, communication tools, and productivity apps are sometimes entry points for cyber-attacks if left outdated, so consider enabling automatic updates, particularly for security-critical software.

Manage your data

If your work involves handling sensitive client information (which, let’s face it, is pretty much any freelance work out there) you need to manage your data. Even if you’re not dealing with accounting or legal issues, you’re still privy to company strategy, processes, and future plans. 

So, for any freelancer (creative or financial, legal or advisory) proper data management is crucial. Implement regular backups using encrypted cloud storage or external drives in case of data loss. When sharing files with clients, use reputable and secure transfer methods.

Data encryption can be your locally stored files’ best friend. Plenty of operating systems offer tools that’ll do built-in encryption, and third parties aren’t shy about offering additional features and controls. 

Review and delete unnecessary sensitive data regularly to minimize potential exposure.

Use strong authentication

Password management is important in remote work involving multiple platforms and services. Using unique, complex passwords for each service protects against credential-stuffing attacks. These are cases where hackers use passwords from one service to access others. A password manager can be useful in generating and storing these hard-to-remember passwords.

Use two-factor authentication whenever possible, particularly for services like:

• Email, that can be frequently targeted by insidious cybercrime tactics. 
• Cloud storage.
• Financial accounts. 

While it may seem slightly inconvenient, the extra layer of security reduces the risk of unauthorized access. 

Takeaways

Cybersecurity is about protecting your data and maintaining client trust and professional reputation. Clients may consider a freelancer’s security practices when making hiring decisions. 

Taking proactive steps to protect your data demonstrates professionalism and reliability.

As technology and apps evolve, new security challenges will emerge. Stay flexible in your approach and keep up to date with cybersecurity news.

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