There are always the big mainstays that pop up when talking about cyber security.

"Make sure to have strong unique passwords."

"Make sure to be suspicious of emails and phishing attacks."

"Make sure not to over-share on social media."

But what about the other, less talked about but still important aspects of cyber security? The forgotten bits?

We’re going to go over some of the most important right now.

Skip Bringing Work to the Coffee Shop

In today’s world of remote working, heading down to the coffee shop to get out of the house can be common. You take your laptop with you and work on some files while there, because, hey, work is important and shouldn’t be neglected for a tasty treat.

What you may not realize is that you’re not just serving yourself up a flaky croissant–you’re potentially serving up some of your company’s secrets to the rest of the patrons of the coffeehouse.

You should always be aware of your surroundings. For the same reasons you have to be careful putting your pin in at an ATM, opportunists will watch your keyboard while you put in your password. Sure, longer passwords are harder to track but don’t give them the opportunity. It’s better to save important work for when you’re in a secure location. And if you have to work in a public location, shield your typing, sit in a way where someone can’t look over your shoulder, and definitely don’t leave your laptop open when you step away to get a napkin.

(Oh, and last short but gigantic suggestion, DON’T USE PUBLIC WI-FI. EVER. NEVER EVER. Thank you for coming to our Ted Talk.)

Securing Your Info Goes Beyond Passwords

You’re sitting there, at your desk, in your office, working on your computer and you decide you need to go grab some coffee. You get up and leave your computer logged in and your office wide open.

Congratulations, you just handed everyone the keys to your company’s private information.

In this day and age, it’s important to have a healthy paranoia when it comes to the security of your and your company’s information. While we’d like to hope that everyone has the company’s best interests at heart, that is not always the case, and when you don’t log out of your computer, you’re allowing any bad actor the opportunity to take whatever information they need.

But we also know that everyone is fallible and sometimes forgets. To ensure that you’re covered in case you forget to lock your computer, set your automatic log-out settings to no more than five minutes. This will ensure that if you do forget, your computer doesn’t.

And to be doubly sure, just lock your office when you leave. That way, if you have any physical documents lying around that could have sensitive information, it is safe. Yes, it’s not cyber-security, but it’s just good practice.

Speaking of Passwords

We’ve talked in other articles about the importance of strong, unique passwords (preferably using a password manager to store them), but some people still think saving their passwords to their browser is a good way to remember them. And, admittedly, it is a great way to remember them, but it is a lousy way to keep them secure.

Someone just needs five minutes with your computer (maybe less) and they can get all the passwords stored in your browser. It’s not even hard. They can get this information whether they are physically on your computer or if they remote in.

If you save your passwords on a browser, you are basically handing them to anyone who touches your computer. Ever dropped your computer off at a repair shop to get it fixed? Now that shop has them. Ever let a friend use your computer for a few minutes? Now they have your passwords. Ever let a coworker hop on your computer to check your work while you run in the other room? You see where this is going.

Just don’t save your passwords in the browser.

Don’t Unlock Your Phone and Walk Away

This seems like common knowledge, but in today’s busy world, it’s not unheard of to unlock your phone, whether through a pin, facial recognition, or TouchID, and then get distracted. If you set your phone down and turn your attention for a moment, someone could easily snag your phone and have access to everything not password protected.

We know the world is a busy place, but minding what you’re doing with your phone, especially if it is a company phone, and ensuring that any important information is hidden behind passwords, is just another little forgotten bit of cyber security advice that you should remember.

Don’t Just Share Your Screen to the Team

How many times have you been in a virtual meeting, and someone says “hey, coworker, why don’t you share your screen and show us what you’re working on?” Then the panic sets in. You have fifteen tabs open on your browser, a chat with your coworker going on, your email open, and you’re in software. If you’re not careful, you could easily share confidential information with the entire team meeting.

Before you share your screen, always review what is open. If the suggestion is sprung on you, let the other members of the meeting know that you need a few moments before you can share your screen, for security purposes. Then, the best practice is to just close everything not needed for the meeting. If anything has to stay open, pause any notifications, especially for emails and chat messages. Make sure nothing confidential is open anywhere on your screen. This goes for files you have on your desktop. It might be a good idea to hide everything in a generic folder to not potentially reveal anything that needs to stay confidential.

Of course, we recommend that if there is the potential to share your screen – and honestly, even if there’s not – that you go into every virtual meeting prepared to share your screen.

One More Note About Virtual Meetings

Don’t have confidential information – passwords, logins, files, etc. – anywhere that your computer’s camera can see. This is the best practice for any team meeting when you have your webcam turned on.

This is also something to keep in mind if you’re taking photos in the office (like a selfie or team photo) that you may post online. Before you share ANY image, make sure you can’t see confidential information anywhere in the frame. Trust us when we say that this happens more than you would assume.

We understand, there’s so much to remember when it comes to cyber security, but if you are mindful and aware of what you’re doing, pretty soon all these little bits that you have to remember will become second nature.