Working online
Many of us work from home these days, at least part-time, and also spend time on the road for business. Now that we’re not so tied to our office desks, though, it’s easy to forget that there are some safety precautions – previously undertaken by the IT department – which you have to take over personally. When you were in the office, you didn’t need to worry if the internet or the office network went down, it was just a case of dialling an internal number and a helpful colleague would come to the rescue. When you’re on your own at home or on the road, though, you don’t have access to the same kind of help. Sure, you can probably still ring the IT department to ask for advice, but you may be hundreds of miles from the office and so nobody’s going to be able to personally fix your computer. One of the things that really have to be done on a regular basis is back up your computer’s hard drive. Even if it’s not through something you did personally, you don’t want to have to knock on the boss’s door and tell them that you’ve lost the entire contents of your hard drive. So it’s a no-brainer to spend just a few minutes – preferably every day – to back up your files. The other task you’re going to have to take responsibility for is protecting your computer from attack. If you’re using a work laptop, probably the IT department have installed the latest antivirus software so you don’t have to worry too much about it. But it’s still a good idea to check regularly that not only is it active but it’s doing its job. If you are using your own computer for work purposes, and are not getting reimbursed for the cost of software, then don’t worry. There are plenty of good free antivirus programs available that will ensure you are protected. And if you still haven’t made up your mind about investing in good software, Kaspersky free antivirus lets you download a free trial version.
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