Six ways to keep you and your devices secure in the gig economy

Here's hoe you can protect yourself against security breaches. Photo / 123RF

The gig economy comes at a cost. These are often temporary positions, where workers are independent and have to take on more risks.

The "gig economy", where workers take on ad hoc jobs or are engaged as independent contractors has clear benefits for firms. Employers save on training, capital expenses (they don't pay for offices or tools) and have a ready pool of potential candidates.

But on the flipside, workers are taking on more risk. Whether it's insecure connections, risky payments, or just bad internet hygiene, you and your devices may be exposed.

But there are some things you can do to protect yourself.

Gig work on the internet

There are plenty of of jobs to do on the internet, and they are varied. Freelancer.com claims to connect more than 22 million employers and freelancers from over 247 countries, doing jobs from programming to designing. Then there are also marketplaces like Envato, and "micro jobs" markets like Amazon Mechanical Turk. These platforms pose particular challenges, as employers can no longer rely on control over devices, so they must trust the skills of gig workers. This trust comes from reputation or reviews, meaning one screw up can be costly.

This is why establishing good security habits are perhaps even more important than ever.

Some tips to look after your devices

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Mike Johnstone, Security Researcher, Senior Lecturer in Software Engineering, Edith Cowan University