⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

10 Tips for Home-Based Employee Computer Security You're saving money by sending them home, but is the technology they use secure?

By Keith Ferrell

entrepreneur daily

If you're looking at ways to trim operating costs without trimming staff, sending employees home to work may be near the top of your list. Just be sure employees' home workspaces are as secure as your business's.

Quite a few security issues come to mind when thinking of employees working from home, but here are bMighty's top 10:

1. Anti-Malware And Defenseware --Are the employees' home setups equipped with the same protection from malware, spyware and intrusions as the equipment at the main facility? Not just similar, and not just same-level. You should have identical levels of protection deployed on all equipment that will be handling company information or processes.

2. Upgrades And Patches --Are the employees' auto-update settings all enabled to ensure that virus defs and patches are current and stay so?

3. Shared Use --Do other members of the employee's household use the home office? This one is important -- inadvertent exposure of company information as a result of an employee's child or spouse's actions is no less troublesome for your business... and in some cases can put you in legal jeopardy.

4. Home Network Security --Is the household running a wireless network? How secure is it? Believe me, you may not want to know, but believe me, you had better know. And so should your IT manager.

5. Backup Practices --How will the employee backup the day's work (or whatever backup period your business requires)? How will you ensure that the backups are made, and that the backed up data is accurate and secure?

6. Encryption --How much of your business data would be safe from prying eyes if the employee's home were burglarized and the work-from-home computer stolen?

7. Disaster Recovery --What happens to your data--and your access to it--should your employee become incapacitated? Do appropriate members of the employee's household understand your ownership of data residing on machines in their home--machines that may be the employee's personal property? Do you, for that matter, have the necessary passwords to access that data if the need or circumstance arises?

8) Termination Troubles --If the work-from-home strategy proves not to solve your overhead concerns and you are forced to terminate the employee, how confident are you of your ability to reclaim all company data? Like the point immediately above, this one can be further complicated if the employee was using personal equipment for business purposes.

9) Compliance Considerations --Many of the points raised above come into even sharper focus (and concern) if any of the materials the employee is working with are subject to regulatory compliance. Make sure the law lets employees work with information at home before you send the information home with them.

10) Peace Of Mind --Okay, this one's wholly subjective, but you should ask yourself--and discuss with the employee--your mutual comfort levels with company information being handled, worked on, stored at the employee's home.

We'll be looking, in the weeks ahead, at some of the issues and questions that these issues and questions raise. (Should you equip the employee's home with a dedicated machine and connection for business use only, for instance.)

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.