Managing your own – and your family’s – personal cybersecurity can be relatively straightforward when working from home. When various laptops, mobile phones, and desktops are under one roof, it is easy to find out where each device is, who is using it, and when it needs to be updated.
However, as hybrid working becomes more widespread and people are returning to the office on a more regular basis, managing devices becomes more complicated. Some devices may remain in the office, while others commute between work and home. This may make it hard to limit device usage to a particular network, or complicate finding the necessary time to stay on top of your security.
These challenges are only compounded by the growing threat of cybercrime; the ESET Threat Report T1 2021 found that the volume of cyberattacks in 2021 has remained formidable, with a rise in threats targeting employees working from home. As employees blend remote work with office hours, these threats won’t go away anytime soon. In fact, with more time spent travelling and in public places, hybrid work could leave us even more vulnerable to potential risks as devices are being used outside of their intended environments.
Therefore, ensuring that the migration of both personal and work devices between home and office networks is secure may require enhanced tools and practices. This is why ESET has launched a new version of its consumer offering, which includes ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Internet Security, and ESET Smart Security® Premium. The upgraded range of products boasts a whole host of new features and improved protection for home users, including LiveGuard, which is integrated within ESET Smart Security® Premium. LiveGuard provides an additional proactive layer of protection against new types of threats cropping up in the landscape.
With ransomware attacks also continuing to evolve, ESET has bolstered its Ransomware Shield function, which monitors and evaluates applications to protect against potential threats. It now delivers enhanced behaviour-based detection techniques to safeguard your device, while Exploit Blocker has been improved to cover more malicious attacks.
In addition, ESET NOD32 Antivirus has been ported to ARM64 and is available for free in the beta channel.
For many consumers, mobile devices are at the centre of their digital ecosystems. Our mobile phones are our wallets, calendars and digital filing cabinets. Housed on them can be anything from health records to travel documents to sensitive financial details. With one type of device playing such a crucial role in our lives, it is essential that modern cybersecurity solutions are mobile-compatible, and that consumers are protected and able to manage their security on the go. By ensuring our home networks are as secure as possible, we can mitigate the potential for home-borne threats to negatively impact the critical role our devices play in employment and productivity.
Everything in one place for your “home security manager”
According to research conducted by ESET, households often have a single person who takes care of IT security for everyone. To cater to this situation, at the centre of the upgraded suite of products is ESET HOME, a management platform that gives users comprehensive oversight of all their ESET security solutions. The job of your ‘home security manager’ is now much easier, eliminating the need to chase down the status of individual devices.
ESET HOME allows users to manage all their Windows and Android devices in one place. This provides complete visibility of the current protection status of your household’s various devices, as well as the status of your licences, allowing you to add, manage and share licences with family and friends. Accessible via web portal and mobile app, the platform is designed with mobile users in mind and is built for on-the-go security management.
Securing your entire household’s devices
As many organisations return to the office, parents are also dealing with kids going back to school, which can double the added security challenges. When children are out of the house, it becomes much trickier to keep tabs on whether they are using their devices safely. Within ESET HOME, parents can now monitor their children’s online activity and control their screen time remotely via Parental Control, gaining peace of mind that they are not at risk.
Whether you’re going to the office, dropping kids off at school, or working remotely from a location away from home, it is more than likely you’ll have your device in hand as you’re on the move. Should you misplace or forget your device – or the unthinkable happens: your device is stolen – ESET’s Anti-Theft feature can help you find it. With location tracking, laptop activity watch and one-way messaging, the chances of reuniting you with your device are increased.
Paying with confidence
When you’re out and about, making online purchases can be a risk. Online shopping is more convenient than ever, and making purchases online is no longer limited to your living room sofa. But outside of the safety of your home network, there are additional dangers – such as insecure Wi-Fi – that open devices up to the threat of malicious actors snooping on your payment details. Banking & Payment Protection recognises and mitigates these risks, safeguarding your financial data during online transactions.
Newly upgraded, this feature now offers the option of running a browser in secured mode by default, so you don’t have to think twice about your online safety. By encrypting communications between the keyboard and the browser when accessing internet banking or web-based cryptocurrency wallets, Banking & Payment Protection defends against keylogging attacks from cybercriminals attempting to hack into accounts.
Manage all your passwords
Having unique, complex passwords for every account is one of the central principles of good cybersecurity, but it can be a headache to manage what often feels like an endless list of logins. To make this less of a hassle, Password Manager has been completely redesigned for improved security and ease of use. Not only does this feature store and organise your passwords seamlessly, but it can also generate strong passwords for new accounts.
Available as both a browser extension on Windows devices and an app on Android and iOS devices, Password Manager enables users to keep track of their account credentials however is most convenient for them. Its new features include support for KeePass and Microsoft Authenticator..
With new security threat emerging as cybercriminals become increasingly sophisticated, taking a proactive approach is key. To better educate yourself and your children, visit Digital Matters - a free online learning platform developed with insights from teachers and parents to transform online safety education. For more information on ESET home solutions, click here.