Work has transformed many professions over the last few decades, in particular when it comes to the size and mobility of computers. People are typing away at their laptops in cafes, airports, trains, and many other places where they choose or need to work. This of course leads to increased risk when it comes to devices, as they can be stolen or accessed by unauthorised people.

The primary step to ensure only you have access to your machine is to protect it with a password or a PIN, just like you would any other account. Many new laptops now offer biometric unlocking options, i.e. fingerprint readers. Although password protection doesn’t guarantee perfect security, it can throw off a malicious actor from trying to access your files.

Sharing computers at work is not as common as it used to be, but in some cases, where people work in shifts for example, it can still be the case. It is therefore important to set up separate user accounts for each person using the computer and only provide authorised personnel with an administrator account on the device. An administrator account breached by a malicious actor can be very problematic not only for the device it is located on but also for other devices in the network if the attacker manages to get enough access.