Home & Home Office Network Security

Network security and data security have been an issue of concern to so many for so long in the corporate world. Home and home office computer users now share these same concerns.

Home computer users are not safe from malicious attacks, from having their private information stolen, financial information spoofed off of their computers or from being used as conduit to corporate network especially for those who work from home by connecting to corporate network through VPN or any other remote connection software.

Home computer users needs to understand how important it is to secure their computers if they are to avoid losses emanating from malicious attacks by hackers and viruses. One of the things that make home & home office computers so vulnerable is the availability unsecured high-speed Internet connection that is always connecting the computer to the internet for as long as the computer is on. Unsecured wireless LAN (WLAN) is another leading source of attacks on Home office small office networks.

there are few things you can do to safeguard you computer and the data on it while you are connected to the Internet regardless of the type of operating system you are running on,

• Make sure your operating systems is current by downloading patches (updates) as often as possible


• Install the firewall, Firewall could either be Hardware, software based or both.


• Install anti virus software like TrendMicro, Symantec, McAffee, Panda or any other favorite choice of yours and make sure virus definitions is up to date.


• Use of strong passwords.

Having those four things implemented will not keep your computer systems 100% safe, You also need to keep them up to date and change passwords as frequently as you possibly could, at minimum passwords should be used no more than 90 days. It is very important to observe Strong password rules. The longer the password the harder it is to crack. There are password generation tools you can use to make your password better and stronger but if you simply follow passwords rule of thumb you will be fine.

Other things to avoid while using the Internet is to be very vigilant, avoid e-mail attachemnts you did not expect or you do not where they came from, do not visit websites you do not trust and surf smart