To go along with our special days and events month I thought I would use this space to ensure that everyone is aware of the risks of sharing your work laptop with other members of the family in Half Term or when needed.
Did your children use your work laptop to play games on in Half Term?
If your children used your work laptop to play games during half term, it’s crucial to ensure that nothing harmful was installed. Some gaming sites and other internet sites can lead to the installation of malicious software. Imagine explaining to your boss that your account was breached because a game with malware was installed without your knowledge.
Most corporate work PCs are locked down to prevent such incidents, but if you run your own business, this could be a nightmare scenario. The best practice is to avoid letting your children use your work machine altogether and provide them with a separate device. However, this might not always be possible.
There are ways to allow access while minimising risks. For instance, you can create a separate login on the PC that doesn’t have administrator access and cannot access your normal account profile. This way, even if your children use the laptop, they won’t be able to install anything harmful or access sensitive information. They would have to ask you for the administrator login in order to install anything of which you would need to enter the details for them.
We advise our clients not to mix work equipment with the domestic setting. It is much more secure and there are fewer risks involved.
If you need guidance on restricting access to your laptop or making it suitable for dual use, please get in touch.
Picture is by Microsoft CoPilot
Martin Mayes – by-line and other articles
