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V O L . X X V I N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 0 18 WO R K P L A C E T E C H N O L O G Y Robert Brooks, also a partner in Verrill's labor and employment practice suggests, "Before a business starts col- lecting this kind of data, they should ask themselves, 'Do we really need to collect it?' and then evaluate how much it's going to cost to protect that information from inappropriate disclosure." And Dawn Harmon, a director and shareholder at Portland law firm Perkins ompson, says: "If you are going to implement wearable tech- nology, then your handbook should have clear guidelines giving employ- ees notice of what type of data you're collecting … Transparency is key, as well as being able to tie it to a busi- ness necessity." Managing remote employees and their devices From a technical standpoint, the increas- ing number of people working remotely carries new risks for employers. "A remote workforce makes manag- ing mobile devices that store company data more challenging than ever," says Rob Simopoulos, a 20-plus-year secu- rity-industry veteran who co-founded Portland cybersecurity startup Defendify with Andrew Rinaldi in 2017. For companies with employees working from home or other remote locations on their personal phones, tab- lets or laptop computers, Simopoulos recommends protecting those devices in the same way they do company- owned computers. "Our mobile phones today carry an incredible amount of information," he says, "and once business data is included, that now means it has sensitive company emails, documents and photos." He adds that many companies are responding with so-called mobile device manage- ment solutions that give them control over devices — by forcing the user to enter a password or allowing a lost phone, tablet or laptop to be detonated remotely so the data is not available to the finder. He also recommends requiring employees to use strong passwords with so-called two-factor authentica- tion on laptops, along with encrypting all hard drives, to prevent access when computers are lost or stolen. Lost USB flash drives pose another problem that many companies avoid by prohibiting their usage, or deploying technology to block a connection. When employees logging in on mobile devices from coffee shops, hotels and restaurants connect to public wire- less or wifi networks, they put their devices at risk, according to Simopoulos. His suggestion: Provide employees with company-owned hotspot devices allow- ing them to communicate on their own connection. "Even in your personal life," he says, "you might want to consider using your phone's hotspot feature rather than public wifi." On the human resources front, Simopoulos recommends that all companies issue a standalone technol- ogy and data use policy guide. "It is a simple handbook that an employee reads and agrees to that outlines with rules as to how company devices and company data should be used," he says. "It should be more than a paragraph in your employee hand- book and should be reviewed, and all company employees should be trained on it regularly." » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Rob Simopoulos Rob Simopoulos, co-founder , co-founder of fast-growing cybersecurity of fast-growing cybersecurity startup startup Defendify Defendify, recommends , recommends that companies protect mobile that companies protect mobile devices used by employees the devices used by employees the same as for company-owned same as for company-owned computers. computers. R EGI ONAL S PONS OR S PR ES ENTI NG S PONS OR Join us at the 2020 On the Road with Mainebiz event series as we kick things off in Portland with one of the largest networking receptions of the year! M A R C H 1 2 / 5 – 7 P M / O C E A N G AT E WAY / OT R P O RT L A N D 2 0 HORS D'OEUVRES / CASH BAR / NETWORKING WITH AREA BUSINESS EXECUTIVES AT TENDANCE IS AT TENDANCE IS FREE FREE BUT SPACE IS BUT SPACE IS LIMITED! LIMITED! Please be sure to register ahead at mainebiz.biz/OTRPortland

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