4 Data Protection Tips for Remote Teams

Key takeaways

1. The recent trend towards remote work has brought with it a new set of challenges when it comes to securing sensitive information and safeguarding against potential breaches of data.
2. The GDPA and CCPA are two of the most important pieces of legislation that impose strict data protection requirements on companies.
3. Along with disruption to business operations and potentially costly fines, a data breach can cause significant reputational damage to a business.
4. Safer data storage methods along with greater security measures and security awareness training for remote employees are some of the ways your company can ensure its data is well protected.

Introduction

The last few years have seen an unprecedented number of people from across the globe swapping their daily commute to the office for a remote-working lifestyle from home. As more organizations are embracing what is now the “new normal” way of working, they are also becoming increasingly aware of the data protection challenges that arise from a virtual work setting.

Without the technical infrastructure of the office to protect them, remote employees are at greater risk of exposing sensitive information, resulting in a potential data breach. Whether it's accessing company data from unsecured networks, using weak security passwords, or simply losing sensitive company documents, remote working presents a number of data protection risks for companies.

In this article we’ll explore some of the data protection security risks which arise from remote work and some useful tips for how companies can protect their data, keeping their business safe.

Why should remote teams care about data protection?

As more companies adopt hybrid and remote working styles, it is essential that all company, client, and employee data remains safe throughout all communications between remote teams.

Below are some of the main reasons for ensuring such data protection.

GDPR and CCPA

The need to remain compliant with certain laws and regulations results in the imposition of strict data protection requirements on companies. One of the main pieces of legislation in this area, introduced in 2018 by the European Union, is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Under this legal framework, all personal data of EU residents and citizens must be collected, processed, stored, and transferred in a secure way (regardless if the data processer has a legal presence in the EU). Businesses can face hefty fines and penalties if they fail to comply with, or are found to breach, the GDPR requirements.

Many remote employees are unfamiliar with the strict security requirements imposed by the GDPR and may not fully grasp how easily their actions could expose the personal data they are being entrusted with, resulting in a data breach and a potentially large fine for their employer.

Another way remote teams may fall foul of the law is under the requirements of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Under this law, certain Californian businesses are required to make disclosures about how the personal information of consumers is collected and for what purpose it is being used, as well as respond to consumers’ privacy requests. Significantly, the CCPA also applies to employment-related data, giving employees a private right of action against their employer in the event that their personal data is compromised during a security breach.

The implications of this mean that relevant businesses need to review their data collection methods taking into account their remote working practices. For example, are remote teams capturing personal employee data through software installed on their personal computers such as geolocation tracking or video conferencing software? If so, these businesses need to note all of the new technologies they have used to facilitate remote work, checking any data collected against their employee’s original disclosures.

Whether it is in the office or in a remote-work setting, both the GDPR and CCPA require companies to handle personal information in private and secure ways, ensuring they safeguard the data that they hold.

Reputational Damage

The potential for a data breach to cause reputational damage to a business is another reason why remote teams need to be vigilant when it comes to these matters. Inadequate data protection measures can leave organizations vulnerable to cyber attacks, resulting in disruption to their business as well as the prospect of having to pay large financial penalties. If these factors are not enough to cripple a business, the resultant damage to its reputation may be.

A data breach can be particularly detrimental for any business and can spell the start of bad press, leading to a loss of trust and confidence from customers who will take their purchasing power elsewhere. What can ensue is a spiraling trend of financial losses and an erosion of a business’ brand value.

To shield your business from such adversity it is critical to have adequate data protection measures in place for your remote teams.

4 Data Protection Tips for Remote Teams

By putting in place the following tips you can ensure your company and customer data is protected from a data breach.

1. File organization (structured)

Structured data is organized and formatted in a consistent way, making it easier to search, query, manipulate, and analyze. A typical example of structured data stored by a business are the tables containing the names, home addresses, and credit card details of customers. When it comes to storing such data safely consider the following questions:

• Is the solution scalable and able to store increasing amounts of data?
• Will it safeguard against data loss or corruption?
• Is the data protected from unauthorized access?

Some recommended file organization methods for remote teams include the use of databases, flash drives, SSDs, and cloud storage.

2. Security

Insufficient security measures such as weak, or no passwords, can compromise the security of an entire organization so it is good practice to require your remote teams to protect any sensitive documents using strong and secure passwords with the help of password management tools, as well as encryption software.

The fallibility of using passwords alone can be overcome by introducing multi-factor authentication (MFA) which offers significantly greater security for remote employees. MFA provides an additional layer of security for remote employees requiring them to validate their identity and can be implemented relatively easily and inexpensively. This is particularly applicable when they are accessing your company’s server and IT resources from remote locations where you have no direct control over the network, modem, or routers.

3. Training

Despite having cybersecurity software in place, employees are still the most common target for phishers so they must be well-equipped to detect and defend against such targeted attacks. Educating your remote staff through security awareness training will give them the skills and information needed to better recognize and respond to potential security threats and data breaches.

Identifying malware, and phishing emails, as well as following best practices in relation to passwords, storing sensitive information, and remotely connecting to your company’s network, should all be included as part of this training.

4. Data breach response plan

This document will enable your organization to prepare for, and effectively respond to, a potential data breach.

Many organizations follow the NIST Incident Response process which contains the following phases: preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned.

By implementing the tips outlined above you can ensure your remote teams adhere to data protection best practices, helping to protect your organization against time-consuming disruptions, potentially hefty fines, and reputational damage.

Conclusion

With the rise of remote work over the last few years, data security risks have increased significantly. Companies without safeguards in place for their remote staff risk data security law violations, serious fines, and reputational damage.

By implementing company policies around structured file organization, account security, and required training, as well as having a data breach response plan, companies can protect themselves against data breach.

Finally, in some cases working with a hiring partner with international data protection experience is the quickest and easiest way to support remote, cross-border employee and client data compliance.