Home Firewalls
When working from home, we lose many of the security benefits that we had while working in the office. Having a professionally secured network to complete sensitive tasks is a luxury that many of us lost this year.

Information security requires multiple layers of solutions to ensure protection and privacy. How can we work from home while still being secure and protecting our data? Families need flexibility and ease of use, which normally means less security.  

Firewalls generally expected in the office setting restrict unsecured network traffic and block malicious threats. Are we able to have that same level of protection at home without requiring professional help or crippling our home networks? Let us review some potential solutions:

Firewalla
A product on the market called Firewalla has made home firewalls easy. This solution has many features that a corporate firewall would use, but is simplified for home use. They provide different device sizes for higher bandwidth scanning and more features.

Bitdefender BOX
Bitdefender, known for its solid anti-virus software, provides a home firewall solution. This device can help manage and secure home networks. They also provide a year free of Bitdefender AV for home devices that will add to home security layers.

Corporate VPN
Most corporate Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have the ability to funnel all PC traffic through the office firewall. If your VPN is set up this way, your PC will still receive most of the same protections from home as you would in the office, of course only while your VPN is connected. If you are unsure if your VPN is set up this way, please contact your IT department to find out.
As working from home grows more prevalent, there will be a surge of new products to help secure at-home networks with physical devices, cloud services, and software solutions. Taking steps to secure your home network may be one of the most valuable and timely IT enhancements you can make. For more details regarding your home firewall, contact your trusted ACT client service representative, or email us at info@actcpas.com.