Traveling and working in destinations outside of one’s own office is part of the everyday life of many employees. The work is carried out, for example, at the customer’s premises, in cafes, on the train, at the airport or even on the plane. I have unfortunately often observed activities that can put a company’s business at risk through a person’s careless behavior. Examples of risk cases I have observed that could be avoided by training the personnel and using protective equipment correctly:
- Working openly on the computer without any kind of screen protector, so that passers-by or those sitting nearby can view all things visible on the computer screen.
- A conversation on the phone or with a colleague so that you can identify which company’s issues are involved and the full names of the persons mentioned in the conversations.
- Charging devices in a public place while leaving devices unattended.
Perhaps the most shocking example occurred when I was visiting a large furniture store when a person participated in an internal meeting remotely via their phone. The person held their phone on speaker so that, in addition to the person’s own speech, I could hear the comments of all parties participating in the meeting on the topic being discussed. The long meeting was also heard by dozens of other people passing through the store’s corridors.
Part of unsafe working is carelessness or simply that the person has not realized that there is any kind of risk in their way of working. In order to promote safe ways of working, when you notice unsafe working, you can always point it out to the person in a positive spirit and give a tip on how to work more safely.
Listed here are easy-to-implement procedures to ensure secure working of the personnel:
- It is important for the personnel to organize regular training on information security, so that the right operating models are in place. If your company has not organized such, suggest it to your supervisor.
- Screen protectors for computers or a computer model with automatic screen protection.
- Internet sharing; always only from your own protected phone or other own device, no public wifi networks.
- When working, make sure no one can see your screen. If that is not possible, do not work on the computer.
- Make sure you don’t say confidential or overly identifiable things about the company or customers out loud. If this is not possible, do not discuss work matters in public places at all.
- Always lock all your devices if you are not in their immediate vicinity.
- Take care of your devices and things when you go to the toilet, for example, take them with you rather than leave them unattended.
- Do not connect any foreign devices/objects to your own devices, for example a charger or memory stick, even if someone asks you to do so.
- Do not lend your devices or chargers to outsiders.
- If you make confidential notes in, for example, your journal, make sure you take the journal with you and destroy the information in the proper manner. Confidential information should not be left in public trash cans.
An open discussion of the topic in the work community and the sharing of good practices increases the staff’s awareness of working safely when it comes to data protection and sensitive information. In addition to regular training, it is important to discuss safe working in e.g. weekly or monthly meetings and to bring up the topic with the help of practical examples. When safe methods are constantly included in discussions, they are better internalized as part of the daily work of the personnel. And when you start to think about safety issues yourself and understand their connection to your work, safe methods are better transferred to everyday doing as well.
