The unprecedented COVID times have seen a dramatic increase in the number of staff for many businesses who work from home.
Whether such a shift has been voluntary or forced by reason of COVID-19, restrictions and lockdowns, it is understandable that keeping staff productive when they are not in the office has become a major concern.
Nonetheless, high producers will always produce, and underperformers will always underperform. The shift to working from home is unlikely to significantly change that. However, businesses face other challenges when staff are working from home. Some of these challenges may not have been given the consideration they deserve. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is security and protection of confidential documents and information. Home internet connections rarely have the same level of security as the connections in a business’s office setting.
Whether it would be via other devices within the home being logged on to the same connection, a neighbour making use of ‘free Wi-Fi’, or a nefarious deliberate hack, documents and information on a home laptop or computer can be at risk.
Your insurance may exclude or limit data breaches or loss from cover. If they are covered, there may be certain conditions in relation to security that need to be met. Home office set-ups may not meet these conditions.
This could put your business at risk of being uninsured, or underinsured, should something happen to your business’s data or information as a result of an incident stemming from a computer being used in a home office.
If the security of data and information is important to your business, and if work from- home set ups could risk this, have a chat to your Broker to ensure that your business is covered, and to see if there are any additional steps your business could take to help secure your business’ data and information.