In addition to organizing work and adhering to working hours, the home office offers another challenge: data protection. Unfortunately, this aspect is often neglected and the floodgates are opened to attacks.
Strict rules for the protection of data and information usually apply in the office. After all, customer data and employee data must be secure and must not leak out.
In theory, these regulations also apply in the home office. Data protection is also mandatory in the home office. This also includes IT security.
However, implementation often fails. Many people do not even protect the data on their private laptop or smartphone. Sometimes there is not even an anti-virus program installed.
If you then work on the private laptop in the home office because you left the company laptop in the office, all the gaps for hacker attacks are quickly available. Basically, the employees should make sure that this does not happen. However, it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure compliance with data protection.
There is no blanket approach to data protection in the home office. It depends on the company and the software used and also what data needs to be protected.
An important step is raising employee awareness of the importance of data protection. However, this raising of awareness does not guarantee precise implementation of the regulations for data protection.
For the most efficient possible implementation of the data protection regulations, the first step is an access restriction. This measure is generally a sensible decision. Employees should only have access to the data and areas that they actually need.
Specifically, this refers to both digital files and printed documents. All devices should be protected with a strong password. Documents should be locked away. You don’t need a safe for that. A lockable cupboard is sufficient, for example. However, it must be ensured that this is always closed.
For technical devices such as laptops and business cell phones, it makes sense to set up two-factor authentication in addition to the password. This is very easy to do with the authenticator from REINER SCT.
It is also important that business devices are not used for private purposes and vice versa. Using it for things other than what the devices are intended for opens up more security risks.
The IT department should be consulted for the implementation of data protection. Training for employees on the subject of data protection is also a good measure. Trained and sensitized staff are more likely to implement measures than employees who do not know how to implement something.
Data protection in the home office is not an easy task. The foundation stone must already be laid in raising staff awareness of the topic. Training courses and precise regulations within the company help ensure that data protection is observed. The measures for this are easy to implement, but usually effective.
