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Security

As part of working at reOS you are going to come into contact with a lot of important, confidential information. It’s very important that you take steps to keep such information secure.

This applies to all employees, contractors, consultants, temporaries, and other workers at reOS and covers the use of all your devices.

Any employee found to have violated our security rules may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Take this seriously.

We have a security checklist which you should run through with a colleague.

Your Laptop and Phone​

  • Set your computer to require a password to wake up from sleep, that way if you close the lid and step away for a few minutes someone can’t steal it and get access to all the secrets.
  • Automatically lock your computer after a short period of idle time (10 mins maximum).
  • On new Macbook Pros, you can add a lock button to the Touch Bar. Tap it before you leave the computer.
  • Require at least a 6-digit pin to unlock your phone.
  • Run a virus scanner on any files you are sent (Gmail does this for you automatically).
  • Have full disk encryption (FileVault for macOS) enabled on your computer. (you should also encrypt your backups).
  • Enable device tracking on your laptop and phone.
    • iOS: Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone. Check on icloud.com to verify.
    • macOS: Settings > iCloud > Find My Mac. Check on icloud.com to verify.
    • Android: Settings > Google > Security > Remotely locate this device. Check on Android Device Manager to verify.
  • Encrypt your work phone:
    • iOS: Set a passcode. Under Settings > Touch ID & Passcode, “Data protection is enabled” should be shown at the bottom of the screen.
    • Android: Settings > Security > Encrypt phone. This should show “Encrypted” if enabled.
  • Encrypt Zoom meetings:
    • iOS: Settings > Advanced Features > In Meeting (Basic) > Check End-to-end encryption
    • Web > My account > Settings > In Meeting (Basic) > Check End-to-end encryption
  • Use a strong password with your SSH key. Do not use passwordless keys.
    • You can test your SSH password by running ssh-keygen -y on the command line. If you are not prompted for a password, you need to add one, which you can do with ssh-keygen -p. Your public key will remain the same, so remote servers/proxy access does not need to be updated
    • You should also use strong algorithms with RSA 2048 at a minimum; higher numbers are better, and 4096 should be used for any new keys generated. (ed25519 is also OK.)
  • Never share your private key with anyone, or copy to a remote server. If you need access from another server with your remote key, use SSH agent forwarding.

Strong Passwords & 2 Factor Authentication​

  • Enable 2-factor authentication for:
    • Dropbox
    • GitHub
    • Google (Gmail & Cloud)
    • Slack
    • Clickup
    • Any other services you use that support two-factor authentication
  • Use Google Authenticator, Authy, or 1Password for two-factor authentication. If possible do not use SMS for 2FA. SMS has been shown to be vulnerable to social engineering attacks.
  • You will get a 1Password account, please use it to manage your passwords. Never write your passwords down outside of your password manager.
  • Use the shared vault to access shared accounts and services.
    • Avoid sharing accounts where possible. Use private vaults with individual members added instead.
    • If you’re using the Authy app, you can additionally protect access to it with a PIN or a fingerprint.
  • Use strong long passwords (16+ chars) made up of random letters, numbers and symbols. 1Password can generate these.
  • Always use a separate password for each service. This reduces the chance of wider compromises in the event your password is discovered.
  • If you are using GitHub on the command line, create a unique access token.

Online Services with Sharing Functionality​

When using online services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive and other similar tools, please make sure to check sharing settings to ensure you’re sharing to the right people.

For example, when using Google Drive, make sure you’re setting sharings to “Anyone in Human Made can access” and not “Anyone with the link can access”.

Google Docs & Sheets​

When starting a new Google Doc or Google Sheet, it is best to start from the intended resting folder within the correct Team Drive. This way the documents inherit the default, secured permissions from the Team Drive.

Never start company documents from your private Google account.

Browser Extensions​

Some browser extensions have access to everything on the website you are using. Make sure that you only install highly rated and trusted official extensions and carry out due diligence by searching for any news of past or current security breaches. In addition you can configure extensions to only run on the websites it needs to, or when you click on its icon.

Important: extensions that operate on text such as Grammarly can send everything you type on a web page to a service that you do not control. If they are running when you use websites such as GMail, Slack, GitHub or anything else work related you could be sending sensitive data to a 3rd party not covered by our privacy policy. These extensions should be switched off for work related websites and are otherwise generally discouraged.

When in Doubt​

Ask for advice in #company-tech-support

Security Officer​

Tyrone Wilson is our CTO, you can contact him directly about security related matters.