Working out of the office 101

COVID-19 has changed the way we run our businesses. Millions of businesses have been made to operate from home which means many more cyber-attack opportunities for the bad guys.

We have put together a series of online seminars (Free Fridays) simply because we want you to work effectively out of the office and think about your business data. These interactive and practical seminars will be run by our CIO Clive Catton who has a special responsibility for data privacy and security at Octagon Technology.

This week we will be talking about your data – is it private and secure? The main aims of this week’s seminar are to remind and educate about:

• Why data privacy and security are important
• Why revisiting GDPR/Data Protection Act regulations can play a key role in data safety; in data you collect, hold, process and share
• Why protecting digital data may be more difficult than you think
• Why risk assessment, data integrity and availability are important

Clive said: ‘Simply keeping data secure is no longer the simple answer. People should consider what data has to be stored locally, who can see the information they hold and how to share it in a safe manner.

For small businesses it is easy to lose track of information – they suffer data creep. We take advantage of all the internet-enabled ways of working and we want to work on all the new devices.

Before the COVID-19 situation I used to love being able to go backpacking at the weekend and still be able to answer clients’ questions from my smartphone whilst being in the middle of nowhere. Of course, this required us to implement some steps at Octagon to enable me to work anywhere and still keep our clients’ server data secret.  

Now we are all locked down and having to work from home, you need to know how to keep your data safe and I want to share this knowledge with you.”

This is a first-time situation for us all which requires the implementation of some steps to enable us to work effectively out of the office and yet keep our data safe and secure. Data privacy and security should be the first thought for every company.

At the end of the seminar you will be familiar with:

1. What actions to implement so that your information is safe when working from home
2. How to secure your home Wi-Fi network so you can work from home and be compliant
3. How data encryption and strong passwords can help you protect your business
4. What technical and organisational steps to take to incorporate best practice for protecting your data  and demonstrating your commitment to customer privacy, your brand and the future.

Clive will take a practical approach to keeping your information private and safe using real life examples, taking you through the thought process and highlighting the role of GDPR/Data Protection Act in data safety.

‘GDPR is a good set of regulations – it makes people think about the information they collect, hold, process and share. A good GDPR policy should address all of these points and give the company (or auditor) a clear understanding and ability to account for all these steps.’ – Clive Catton, CIO

The seminar will be run on Friday 1^st May at 11am and will be delivered via Microsoft Teams. Next week we will be talking about OneNote, explaining why it is a great tool for remote working and illustrating how you can benefit from this Microsoft facility.

Want to join us online? Email me kamila@octagontech.com and I will add you to my list.

Kamila 

General Manager

Octagon Technology Ltd