GDPR – What you need to know:
The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Anyone who uses personal data must follow ‘data protection principles’ and ensure the information is used fairly and within the law. Personal data must only be used for specified purposes and needs to be limited to what is necessary. Find out more about the Data Protection Act 2018 here.

Minimise the Risks
Employees who work from home and that handle personal data must be fully trained on GDPR and how it affects their working practices. All employees must use strong passwords – it’s hard to keep track of passwords so password managers are a great tool to keep them safe and secure. Encourage your employees to use a VPN (virtual private network) when working from home as an extra layer of security.

The use of company devices is the most expensive option (but most secure) for employees who work remotely. The devices should be able to be supported and updated remotely and measures should be put in place to prevent data loss.

If your employees wish to use their own devices for working from home there are considerations you need to take into account before authorising in order to help prevent data protection and security breaches:

• Ensure your employees have up to date software (including operating system).
• Bear in mind the likelihood of family members or other members of the household seeing sensitive data.
• Do other members of the household share the devices? If so, how can you ensure sensitive data is not shared?
• Encrypt sensitive company data – there are multiple third party hard drive encryption software solutions.
• Discourage the practice of storing or transferring sensitive data to insecure storage devices such as USB sticks.

Security Checklist:

• Up to date policies for remote working.
• Make sure all your employees (and you) are fully trained on data protection and how to remain secure when working remotely.
• Guidance on working remotely for all employees.
• Ensure all employees use strong passwords and utilise multi-factor authentication where possible.
• Ensure employees use company email addresses when dealing with sensitive data.
• Control access so that employees only have access to the data they need and nothing more.
• Ensure all employees have up to date antivirus software installed (and turned on) on any personal device being used for work.
• Ensure you use a corporate VPN to keep connections secure.

​
When Employees Leave
To protect against data loss you need to make sure you remove access to the company email address immediately. Remove access to all applications and disable, retrieve and wipe any company owned devices.

On leaving, ask the employee to sign a document acknowledging they have returned any company owned devices and that they haven’t kept any company data.

Companies producing smartphones, smart appliances and other internet-connected devices will have to comply with the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act from 29 April 2024 - this means manufacturers will be obligated to make their smart devices more secure, including banning the use of 'universal default and easily guessable default passwords', informing customers on how long they will provide support and updates for their products and report known vulnerabilities found in any of their devices.

Smart tech is constantly improving and getting harder to breach with ongoing updates and improvements but there are still weaknesses that leave our homes vulnerable to security breaches. The new law will make it easier for consumers to make informed decisions when buying smart devices for their home but until then there are a few things we can do to protect our smart homes from being hacked.

We’ve put together our top tips to help you secure your smart home:
​
Secure your Wifi network
Most Wifi routers come with an easy to remember (and easy to hack) password such as ‘admin’. Your WiFi gives potential hackers access to everything that is connected to it, so it’s vital you have a strong password to protect it. It’s hard to remember all the different passwords we need for all our tech- password managers are a great way to generate and safely store all your passwords.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication
Most devices give you the option to set up multi-factor authentication ( a collection of forms of verification alongside your username and password, i.e. fingerprint, PIN etc)- meaning you create multiple layers of defence against hackers.

Update Your Device's Software
As we mentioned earlier, updates provide patches and fixes for security holes and bugs, so it’s really important to make sure your devices are running the latest available version.

Set up a Separate Network
In the same way you can set up ‘guest’ networks for your kids to access the internet, you can also set up a separate network just for your smart home. Keeping your smart home on a different network will make it harder for hackers to access data on your computer or smartphone even if they breach your smart home network.

Avoid Using Public WiFi to Access Smart Devices
It’s tempting to use free WiFi to check on your smart security etc while out and about but doing so can put your security at risk. If you need to access your smart home while away then it’s much safer to use 3G/4G.

Make Sure Your Smartphone is Secure
It’s an obvious one really, your smartphone needs to be secure with a passcode that cannot be easily worked out and fingerprint/retina scan activated.

Update Old Routers
Outdated routers are a hacker's dream, with old security protocols and firmware making them easier to access.

Use a Security Suite
Coming in various options from basic to advanced, a security suite will typically provide antivirus, firewall, anti-spam and parental control to help protect your smart home from hackers. Check out PC Mag’s comprehensive list of security suites here. 

​For help  and support with updates, antivirus installation and any other smart device queries, contact Ben at File Genie.

Passwords – they keep our digital lives secure, and at the File Genie blog we have spoken about good Password creation on a few occasions, but how do you keep your passwords secure?
 
Do you trust to your memory? How many different passwords do you have to remember? If you count them all up, chances are there are far more than you might think.
 
What about writing them all down – keeping a special notebook for them? Well that’s risky. Most of all, will you remember to write each and every password down?
 
Password Managers are another way. In fact, they can be really helpful, taking the trial and error out of thinking up and recalling at will a new, complex password. For most of them, all you need to do is to remember one ‘Master’ password. Most are installed into your browser directly, then every time you need a new password the manager will generate one for you, then remember it. It will also pick up any existing passwords and store them securely. All this means you are less likely to need to reset passwords after forgetting them.
 
There are several FREE Password Managers on the market, and many you pay for. Paid solutions will usually have a few extra bells and whistles, but the best of the free options are very good too. Some of the premium options will offer a free trial period so you can try before you buy, which is a good idea, allowing you to make sure you are happy with the way they work.
 
A quick internet search will have you tumbling over dozens of them, but these are some we are happy to tell you about:

Dashlane
www.dashlane.com
 
LastPass Premium
www.lastpass.com
 
Sticky
www.stickypassword.com
 
Keeper
www.keepersecurity.com

Free and Paid for Password Managers - written for File Genie by Freelance Writer Ruth Raymer @WritingWalking