8Security for Freelance and Remote Work

Under the big tree the young man sat working for a client in a faraway country, connected to the public network that anyone passing by can use. Then he got up for a moment and left his laptop open, and the little boy came along and took it to play with. When the young man came back and found it in the little boy’s hands, he realised that all his work had been lying wide open.

That same day the grandmother, who sells jams from her home, came along holding her phone. “I’ve had a message saying: your account is locked, send your PIN.” “Don’t send anything, Grandma,” said Fawzooz. “That’s a phishing message.” Then he gathered everyone and said, “Whoever works from home, or under a tree, needs the same protection we have in the workspace.”

“Every home has become an office, and every office needs a door that closes.”

Understanding the risks

Insecure networks. Home networks and public networks may not be secure, so someone else can pick up the data passing over them.

Devices stolen or lost. The devices we work on can be stolen or lost, or end up in the hands of a child at play, and then the data is exposed.

Who can reach the data. Someone working alone, without a technical team, finds it hard to be sure that only the right people can reach their data.

Phishing and trickery. Remote workers are a constant target for messages that try to steal passwords or plant harmful software, like the message the grandmother received.

A clear policy for everyone

Fawzooz wrote a simple policy for everyone who works remotely to follow, covering:

Devices and networks. Rules that protect devices and networks.

Signing in safely. Guidance on passwords, two-step sign-in and passkeys.

Files. A safe way to share and store information.

If something goes wrong. What to do if there is a breach.

Securing networks

A private network (VPN). Workers use a virtual private network when they reach work files, so their data is encrypted and no one can pick it up.

The home network. They change the router settings it came with from the factory, choose strong passwords, and update its software regularly.

Protecting devices

Protective software. They install well-known antivirus and anti-malware software, and keep it up to date.

Protection by hand. They use locks, keep devices somewhere safe, and never leave them open and unwatched in public places.

Encryption. And they encrypt the whole disk, so if a device is stolen or lost, the data stays locked.

The secure cloud

Encrypting data. They choose cloud services that encrypt data both while it travels and while it is stored.

Keys according to role. They set strict controls, so only the right people can reach sensitive data.

A copy every night. And the encrypted cloud keeps a copy every night, so if a device fails or a file is deleted by mistake, it comes back just as it was.

Awareness

Watch out for phishing. Fawzooz taught everyone, the grandmother included, how to recognise suspicious messages, and never to send a PIN to anyone.

New technologies

The passkey. And he encouraged remote workers to keep up with new security tools, such as a passkey that opens with your face or your fingerprint.

At the end of the day they sat together under the big tree, and Fawzooz said, “Look at our whole journey: we began with a triangle on the board, then a standard that builds trust, then risks we know before they happen, and controls everyone understands, a waterwheel that never stops, ethics that lift us above the law, and doors we test before anyone else does. And today we’ve carried security out of the workspace to every home and every tree.”