Working from home is becoming increasingly popular. The days of working exclusively at the company workplace are long gone. However, security must not be neglected. Data protection in the home office is a key issue here.
The challenge of data protection when working from home
In addition to organizing work and keeping to working hours, working from home presents another challenge: data protection. Unfortunately, this aspect is often neglected, opening the door to attacks. In the office, strict regulations usually apply to the protection of data and information. After all, customer and employee data must be secure and must not be leaked to the outside world. 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 don’t even protect the data on their private laptop or smartphone. Sometimes they don’t even have an anti-virus program installed. If they then also work on their private laptop in the home office because they have left the company laptop in the office, there are quickly all the gaps for hacker attacks. Basically, employees should make sure that this doesn’t happen. However, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
Implementing data protection in the home office
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to data protection in the home office. It depends on the company and the software used, as well as which data needs to be protected. An important step is to make employees aware of the importance of data protection. However, this awareness does not guarantee that the data protection regulations will be implemented precisely. The first step in implementing data protection regulations as efficiently as possible is to restrict access. This measure is generally a sensible decision. Employees should only have access to the data and areas that they actually need. Specifically, this applies to both digital files and printed documents. All devices should be protected with a strong password. Documents should be locked away. This does not necessarily require a safe. A lockable cabinet, for example, is sufficient. However, care must be taken to ensure that it is always locked. 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 with the Authenticator from REINER SCT. It is also important that business devices are not used for private purposes and vice versa. Using them for purposes other than those for which the devices are intended opens up further security risks. The IT department should be involved in the implementation of data protection. Data protection training for employees 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.
Conclusion
Data protection in the home office is no easy task. The foundation stone must be laid when sensitizing staff to the topic. Training and precise regulations within the company help to ensure that data protection is complied with. The measures for this are simple to implement, but generally effective.
