COVID-19

What You Should be Doing

How to work from home safely and securely

COVID-19 caused the sudden closure of offices throughout North America and the world. Naturally, many companies were unprepared for how to quickly and securely get their teams working from home. We have shepherded many of our customers through this process and we know what steps need to be taken to do the job right.

Working from home has been a saviour for many organizations. Thank you Internet!! However, with this sudden shift security “holes” have been unintentionally revealed and new risks to data, equipment and productivity have been exposed.

Some of the key things we look at are:

• Identifying all users. Isolating work and remote access profiles from personal ones.
• Installing updates, running scans, configuring antivirus and security software and settings.
• Checking user hardware and upgrading or replacing items as needed.
• Assisting with audio, video and remote collaboration tools.
• Testing Internet connection speeds, assisting with upgrades when required.
• Monitoring firewall load and traffic levels to ensure user experiences are consistent and reliable.
• Troubleshooting network and remote access issues.

COVID-19 Specific Online Scams

What to watch out for

We are, as we all know, living in unprecedented times. This brings out the best in many people and there are many uplifting stories of people going above and beyond to be helpful and supportive of one another.

Unfortunately, some people are using this situation to take advantage and exploit others. Several of our customers have already experienced fraud attempts related to COVID-19. As such, we wanted to share some information about the types of scams we are seeing to help you avoid them:

• COVID Payouts - Email requesting personal and banking details in order to receive a government payout related to COVID-19. Never email personal information.
• Health Tips - Email purporting to be from a trusted Public Health body (WHO, CDC) with information on how to protect yourself from COVID-19 accessed via an attachment or link. These organizations will NOT email you directly. Do not click on unknown links or open unknown attachments.
• Urgent Payment Requests - Email requests for payment using unconventional means such as wire transfer, bitcoin etc. to avoid sending a cheque due to COVID-19 fears. This can be fraudulent even if they appear to be from trusted sources (internal staff, suppliers, superiors etc.) and include seemingly legitimate invoices or other attachments. Do not send funds without calling (not emailing) the person making the request to verify.

With more and more people working from home and scrambling to maintain a connection to their workplace there are many gateways to both personal and corporate information that could be insecure. It is more important than ever to be vigilant in protecting yourself and your data. Here are some ways to keep your system and/or your company’s system safe:

Do:

• Do - Keep anti-virus software and your operating system up-to-date. Don’t delay or defer any updates that your system recommends.
• Do - Always separate your work activities from your personal computer use with distinct user profiles.
• Do - Distrust messages that ask for payment in a new/unusual way or that insist on immediate or rushed payment. Always call the person (don’t email) to confirm the message’s authenticity.
• Do - Beware of phishing emails. These often have “From” email addresses that seem odd or don’t match the company or organization name, that use logos or branding incorrectly, that start with generic greetings like “sir or ma’am” or that contain spelling, grammar or syntax errors.
• Do - Ensure all files are saved on the server and not on your local computer to allow them to be backed up reliably.

Don’t:

• Don’t - Share your passwords, authentication codes or personal information via email or text.
• Don’t - Use the same password on multiple services or sites.
• Don’t - Click links blindly. Inspect a link by hovering your mouse over it to help determine if it is safe.
• Don’t - Open unsolicited or unexpected attachments.
• Don’t - Trust messages that claim to be from well-known organizations such as banks, governments or health authorities like the WHO or the CDC. Use your browser to go directly to their official site. Do not click on links from within email messages.