Keep your data to yourself

by  Gabriel Akinremi

Wi-Fi is everywhere, so working outside the office is a breeze. But keep in mind that you could be exposing your private information to outsiders. Many websites that require you to input private info--to get a white paper, for example--don’t encrypt that data, which means what you post is not private. One way to make sure your data is secure is by using a Virtual Private Network or VPN.

                For those times when we're using a public wireless network, our data is exposed to anyone who wants to sniff it out of the air with the right technology. Of course, some websites you visit encrypt the data between your browser and their server, but most websites, such as Gmail, Facebook and many others do not. This means that most of the time you are operating insecurely.

                Installing a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to securely communicate between your network and your computer is one solution to ensure your business data is secure. A VPN encrypts all the traffic leaving and entering your computer. So that although your communications are still being sent in the open air for hackers to capture, the information is encrypted, so it's useless to them.

                Your company can create its own VPN, which can be set up by an IT consultant or internal IT team (if you have one).

 Another related but slightly different security challenge is for network administrators managing the connectivity of remote workers to corporate networks. For those with laptops, how do IT managers ensure that the remote computer is updated with the latest patches, is virus free and is not a zombie computer stealing sensitive data.

                Whether you use Private WiFi or some other security solution, it's important to ensure that your public network communications are secure. You never know if that nice lady next to you is a hacker. The guy reading the online news could be reading your online communications and you'd never know it.