Cyber security expert Matt Horan from C3IA Solutions said that it is unwise for staff to just turn on the office computers and pick up where they left off.

There are a number of cyber risks that remain and might well have increased with employees having been working from home.

Changes might have been made to systems to allow staff to work remotely and these could need changing back.

If the company is intending for some of its staff to carry on working from home then more permanent systems might be required.

All company data stored on home devices should be moved to company back-ups then deleted permanently.

Matt, whose company is based in Poole, said, “It’s important that managers are not complacent about their cyber security when offices re-open.

“There are practical things to consider such as checking that no office equipment has gone missing and that any server rooms are serviced so when the power is turned on, it works.

“And it is still important to comply with GPDR and ensure that the data remains correctly stored.

“IT security arrangements ought to be re-evaluated and anything that was relaxed to enable remote working should be put back in place.

“Passwords that have been used at home should be changed, especially if someone else has seen them during lockdown.

“Firewalls should be re-configured to allow approved external IP addresses and deny unauthorised ones; these may have been changed to allow home workers to connect to company servers.

“Staff might also need reminding of cyber security and some training could be useful in focusing minds again on all the threats out there.

“All this is on top of reducing the risk of spreading covid-19 by cleaning offices and ensuring social distancing.”