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Seven Deadly Sins of Home Office Security

Whether your home office is for the occasional WAH or you're running a business from the house, are you guilty of one of these security oversights?

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

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And there is also the issue of letting family members onto the work computer, which is a mistake, said Zbar. It is a common scene for a child to use a home office computer when it isn't being utilized for business, but Zbar recommends against this.

"We have different computers with printers in the house for the kids for their school projects and other things," he said

The reason Zbar insists on separation is because of the lack of control he has over what his kids might do on the web.

"You don't want to make your computer more vulnerable than it needs to be by having others web surf on it and doing things with it."

Krein handles it a bit differently in his house. He has his computer set up for several users, with administrator privileges only under his own password protected profile. If children accidentally find themselves on a site with a malicious link, it would be much harder for them to download a virus or other malware, he said.

Failing to remember your office is a place of business and is held liable as such

Zbar rarely sees clients or any other work-related individuals in his home office, preferring instead to meet them in public or at their place of business.

"For security purposes I think it's important not to have people in your home office," he said.

Zbar said he thinks it's safer not only from a security standpoint, but that there is a liability issue, too.