If you want to guard against employee misuse of workplace technology, you need clear policies on acceptable computer use and monitoring. These policies should include the reasons for creating the policy, the people and facilities to whom it applies, and the actions that constitute a violation.
The most common reason to create a computer usage policy is to safeguard company information and systems against cyber attacks and other risks. Other important purposes include facilitating communication, improving productivity, and analyzing business data.
Depending on the type of business, you may need to add more specific guidelines such as not using computers for illegal activities, chain letters, or discriminatory communication. In addition, you should make it clear that employees should not expect privacy while using company-owned equipment on company time — and that the organization may monitor their activity (if that's legal in your region).
Insider threats can be more serious than outsider attacks, but they do not require malicious intent. In this category, we see employees stealing data to take it home, accidentally taking confidential files on their laptops, or using unauthorized software to download pirated music and introduce malware into the corporate network.
In addition to creating policies on these types of behaviors, we suggest implementing a zero trust security strategy. This means that all devices, apps and services on the network need to be verified continuously through active checks like multi-factor authentication. This will help lower the risk of unauthorized access to personally identifiable information (PII) in the cloud or other data.
