Keep work and personal separate

The cleanest way to protect work information at home is to keep it away from your personal digital life. Mixing the two creates risks in both directions: a compromise of your personal accounts can expose work data, and work monitoring or a security incident can sweep up your personal files.

Use the work device if you have one

If your employer has issued you a laptop or phone, use it for work and only for work. It will usually be managed, encrypted, and monitored for threats in ways your personal machine is not. Resist the temptation to check work email on the family computer just because it's closer. Equally, keep personal browsing, gaming, and downloads off the work device; every extra app and site increases its exposure.

If you must use a personal device, create separation

Where your organisation allows work on personal devices, create a dedicated user profile or account for work. A separate profile keeps work browser sessions, saved passwords, and files apart from your personal ones, and apart from anyone else who uses the machine. Follow whatever your organisation's bring-your-own-device policy requires, which typically includes a supported operating system, disk encryption, up-to-date software, and screen locking.

Shared family computers are not work computers

A computer shared with your household is the wrong place for work. Other users may install untrusted software, click risky links, or simply stumble across files they should never see. Even a well-meaning family member using your logged-in session can cause a data protection incident. If a shared machine is genuinely your only option, speak to IT first rather than improvising.

The habit to build is simple: before you open something work related, ask whether you are on the right device and the right profile. If the answer is no, switch before you continue.