Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, remote and hybrid work became more popular than ever before. Countless organisations had to adapt to the new working environment in a fast and unexpected paste back then. While we were able to almost go back to normal after the pandemic in our everyday-life, many of the organisations kept a more flexible working environment. However, with this new era of working, new challenges appear and require appropriate preparation to keep the risks that remote work brings with it as low as possible for each business.
Without proper guidelines, employees may use their mobile devices for personal purposes, download untrusted applications or connect to unsecured networks, which can potentially expose the organization's network to malicious activities. Strict and clear guidelines for the use of mobile devices help organizations reduce cyber security risks and enhance their overall security position, and therefore strengthening the safety of their data. As you most likely already know, you can find suitable guidelines for yous cyber security work in Cyberday. I would like to introduce you to some of the most popular remote work guidelines you can find in Cyberday as a template to adjust to your needs.
- "Acceptable use of mobile devices"
Why is this guideline a very good example and a good draft for any organization's guidelines? This guideline summarises the very basics every employee should follow when using mobile devices. Especially paying attention to not changing the security settings or even bypassing the malware protection is crucial. The organization does have those in place for a good reason an by changing something or bypassing any security related functions, the employee may i.e. risk to potentially expose the organization's network to malicious activities.
- "Taking care of data protection in remote work"
Why is this guideline a very good example and a good draft for any organization's guidelines? This guideline may seem to give hint towards some very obvious topics such as not having confidential discussions in i.e. Facebook or meeting customers at home, but anyway, it is important to write those instructions down for your employees clearly. What seems obvious to one, might not be to another. For example, for an employee it might not seem like a risk to i.e. allow a family member to use the work device. However, allowing family members to use work devices may create a significant cyber security risks for organizations. Work devices are often configured with specific security settings and protocols to protect sensitive information from external threats. Allowing family members to use these devices could compromise the integrity of these security settings and therefore increase the likelihood of any unauthorized access to sensitive information. Moreover, family members may not follow the same procedures to keep a high level of cyber security hygiene, which an employee would, such as using strong passwords or avoiding suspicious websites, which can then further increase the risk of a cyber attack.
- "Surveillance of mobile devices"
Why is this guideline a very good example and a good draft for any organization's guidelines? Leaving a mobile device unattended, no matter if i.e. in the office, the car or even a public place, causes a high risk for the organization's cyber security. Also for example keeping your operating system up-to-date is critical from a security perspective. Operating system updates often include security patches that address vulnerabilities and bugs in the software that could be exploited by cyber criminals. Failing to apply these updates leaves your device open to various cybersecurity threats such as viruses, malware, and hacking attacks.
How to use those Guidelines in Cyberday
Where to find this view: Dashboard -> Theme: Remote work and mobile devices -> Guidelines
These were just three out of the many important guideline templates from our list in Cyberday. You can find our full list of templates and suggested guidelines in Cyberday by selecting the Theme "Remote work and mobile devices" from the Organization Dashboard and then clicking "Guidelines" in the menu on the left (a small tab with "Remote work and mobile devices" will open under Guidelines, click on that one).
A list with all of our remote work and mobile devices related guidelines will open. You can activate any guideline from the list and edit it to adapt it to your organization's individual needs. Remember to select an owner, who will keep the guideline up-to date if for example some security procedures are changing, which require changes in the guidelines.
When you have activated a guideline, you should also select for whom it is shown. In some cases, not every employee needs a guideline, i.e an employee that will not work remotely does not need remote work related guidelines to fill up the own guidebook unnecessarily.
Further, you can also follow the acceptance statistics of each guideline in Cyberday. If needed, you can also activate case examples and even skill tests for the guidelines in order to make them even more clear to your employees. If you have chosen specific employee groups only, the acceptance rate will take this into consideration. If you would like to see who has read and accepted the guideline already, simply click on "Employee acceptance".
If you would like to learn more about guidelines in Cyberday and how to work with them, you can find a collection of articles about this topic in our academy here.
