Keeping your laptop secure  

There’s hardly a business in operation that doesn’t own numerous laptops and IOT devices. But what some business owners don’t consider is that mobile productivity devices – and laptops in particular – can be a major cybersecurity vulnerability.

If you and your team use company laptops, you need to take steps to secure them. Let’s have a look at the risks involved in managing your portable devices and how to mitigate them.

Your laptop is the door to your data – Keep it locked

Take a moment and consider just how much sensitive information there is on your work laptop. From email passwords to internet banking credentials and highly confidential company documents, you’d be guaranteed sleepless nights if your device was stolen.

Considering how much crucial information is stored on laptops we’re always worried when clients tell us that they haven’t secured their devices yet. Here are some ways you can keep your laptop safe from cybercriminals.

Location Finding

Setting up and enabling a location-finding service can be a big help if you ever lose your laptop, but it can also be a slight privacy risk. It’s a trade-off between how much you value your laptop vs your privacy as these location apps can also track you.

Passwords and encryption

If you haven’t set a password on your laptop yet, take a moment and get it done now. You’ll be taking one of the biggest steps on the journey to predicting your data.

In addition to a password, you’ll want to encrypt your hard drive and password protect important files so they can’t be read if someone steals your laptop or uses it without your permission.

Password protected screensaver

We all need to take a break from our laptops every now and again or get side-tracked by someone or something else happening around us, leaving our devices open and exposed to snoopers. To ensure that others don’t have access to your laptop make sure that you activate an automatic screensaver that requires a password to exit.

Screen guards

Have you ever sat down on an airplane or at Starbucks and felt a strange presence, only to find the person next to you reading your laptop screen? Your typical screen reader may just be an innocent, busybody, but guarding your personal information is still hugely important.

A laptop screen guard makes it difficult to read your screen from the side, helping to endure data privacy when you’re traveling or working remotely.

Virtual private network (VPN)

Public Wi-Fi spots are everywhere and unless you hotspot your own mobile device or carry a router with you your security can be easily compromised. Data traffic on public connections is usually not encrypted and you never know who might be monitoring the connection you are linked up to.

Here are some of the things you can do to stay safe when a public connection is your only option.

• Use a VPN that encrypts your data
• Disable Wi-Fi auto connect
• Don’t login to sites that are password protected such as online banking, social media etc

Data Backup

It’s always a smart idea to be ready for the worst-case scenario. If your laptop is stolen, you need a place to store and retrieve your business data. That place is the cloud.

Laptop Security and Cloud Storage

Soteria’s range of secure cloud storage solutions for businesses and households offer fully encrypted backup to ensure the safety of your files. Browse our packages today to find the one that suits your needs.