Data Security for Mobile Employees
Take a look around you the next time you’re at the airport: busy executives scrolling through messages on their PDAs, flipping through stacks of client files, and carrying on animated conversations with colleagues via cell phone. No one appreciates the convenience of today’s virtual office more than overworked executives. But are your employees maintaining the same high standards for data security when they’re on the road as when they’re in the office? Here are some tips for reducing the risk of a security breach for highly mobile employees.
- Many companies have special passwords and access numbers for employees to use when they’re off-site. Avoid the temptation to jot them down on a scrap of paper you keep with your laptop. Don’t use shortcut keys to program passwords, access codes, or credit card numbers.
- Before leaving on business travel, check your briefcase, PDA, and laptop for data that shouldn’t go on the road with you. Sensitive information is best left locked in a file cabinet or burned to a CD or flash drive stored securely in your office.
- Ten percent of all laptop thefts occur in airports. Keep your eye on your electronic devices when going through airport screening. Don’t put your cell phone, PDA, or computer on the conveyor belt until the person directly ahead of you has made it through the metal detector.
- A survey of business travelers found that a third of them confessed to sneaking a peek at an airplane seatmate’s computer screen. Defer work on confidential client files until you’re away from prying eyes.
- Ever taken a look at the documents some travelers leave on the computer at the hotel business center? And just think of the sensitive information blurted out during loud cell phone conversations. Remind your employees to keep their guard up in public. You never know who might be listening.It’s a small, small world
- Information on home computers can be just as vulnerable to compromise. Require up-to-date firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware protection and the latest security patches on home computers used even occasionally for business. Establish company policies about off-site access to sensitive data.
- Business travelers often are the first in line for the latest electronic device, but need to take care before disposing of the old one. When getting rid of computers, cell phones, or PDAs, deleting files using keyboard commands may not be sufficient because data can remain on a device’s memory. Check with your IT staff to see if there is a “wipe” utility program that can overwrite the memory so data is no longer recoverable.
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