On the Road Again: Personal Information and the Telecommuter's Way of Life

At home, on the road or in a coffee shop, teleworkers are ubiquitous. Increased convenience, however, can also mean increased exposure, bringing the enterprise into uncontrolled territory with networks and computing devices that the organization may not have provided or protected. Extending security to this arrangement, protecting personal information typically processed in portable devices and training people who work in these environments in the safe handling of personal information may pose significant challenges. A good place to start is by equipping mobile and telework devices with security features like virus protection, spyware protection, firewalls and encryption solutions.

In Case of Emergency: Having a Plan for the Worst-Case Scenario

Security compromises can occur even in the best-run organizations. Maturity in incident management involves not just responding to such events but alerting the individuals who may be affected by the security breach. Formal, effective and repeatable processes that have been tested and proven are essential in determining the nature of an event and the steps to take in response. In some cases, deadlines are mandated by regulation, not just by the speed of business; failure to meet those deadlines may become a violation of law. In other cases, inappropriate reactions to events may open the organization to even more damage than the situation warrants, including damage to the brand or its integrity. Avoiding these occurrences requires a robust and consistently implemented plan. Resolving them does also.

It's a Small World: Developing Privacy Procedures for Home and Abroad

Today, personal information is spread seamlessly across the globe. Accelerating business models and their globalization of businesses, markets and workforces requires harmonization of systems and processes. Organizations must tackle privacy risk management and compliance across many jurisdictions to keep their businesses growing. Such privacy authorities as the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, national data protection commissions and financial and telecommunications regulators have become more active with inquiries, audits and enforcement activities—sometimes in response to employee and customer complaints, other times as part of proactive industrywide initiatives.

Whereas privacy was once a road block to global data, privacy compliance steps now can be the enabler of global markets, global business effectiveness and global IT solutions. Although this doesn't mean that just any transfer or use of personal information will be warranted, it does imply that legitimate activity and transactions can take place with proper policies, procedures and controls.

Building a Better Mousetrap: Keeping Pace with Privacy Management Technology