Remote work is appealing, but also carries risks to your data security

(Patria) - The number of Americans working remotely has tripled from 5.7 to 17.9 percent between 2019 and 2021. For some, this meant working from the comfort of home, while others chose more stimulating environments.

According to a recent survey by BDG Studios/OnePoll of over 1,000 Gen Z individuals across the United States, nearly 10 percent of respondents stated that their favorite place to work outside the office was a coffee shop or restaurant.

There were participants who gave more colorful answers, such as a cemetery, a stall in a public restroom, certain pizza chains with animatronic characters that children adore, and even circuses.

"I worked remotely during a TV shoot where I was hired as an extra, so I was able to do a large part of my 'real' job via laptop," said one of the survey participants.

While some of these locations are original (to say the least), they also raise some serious questions when it comes to cybersecurity. Of the total respondents, 61 percent said they store business files on personal devices, and 63 percent said they connect to the first available public Wi-Fi network they find.

You might think using public Wi-Fi is perfectly fine, but connecting to an unsecured network via an unprotected device can expose your data to serious risk. Fortunately, you can take simple steps to protect yourself and your information.

Here are a few tips for this:

- Set up a virtual private network or VPN for your company's network. After that, make sure everyone accessing the company network goes through that VPN first.

- Ensure that the company uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) for its website and associated applications. This way, login data and other personal information are kept hidden from snoopers using phishing and MITM attacks.

- Regardless of how appealing it may be, remote workers should choose a mobile hotspot for use instead of an unsecured public Wi-Fi account. A mobile hotspot provides an additional layer of security thanks to Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA-3) encryption. This new feature (already installed on Samsung Galaxy smartphones) makes internet browsing safer, even on public networks. It encrypts at least 250MB of your internet traffic per month, and also blocks tracking applications.

Learn more at samsung.com.