Clear policies are a great way to set expectations and provide your team with direction while keeping them and your business information safe. If you don’t already have a clear Remote Access policy or Working From Home policy, there has never been a better time to create yours.

Overview

Provide some background as to why remote access is necessary and why it is important to your business

Purpose

Let your team know why you need to define and implement this policy.

Scope

Be specific about to what and to whom your policy applies. Under normal circumstances, you would want to define who is and isn’t eligible for working remotely based on job function. Under the current circumstances, it is understood that we are all working remotely. This said, if you’re crafting the policy now, you can stipulate various conditions so the policy is relevant in both normal and exceptional conditions.

Policy

Provide clear guidance and direction. Common policies may include:

Responsibility of authorized users to safeguard remote access controls and credentials
Clearly defined approved method(s) for establishing remote connections including authentication methods. This will also include information about data loss protection and encryption.
Description of remote access logging
Acceptable Use
Remote employee availability expectations, i.e. 9 to 5 or free schedules
Requirements
- Allowed systems
- Allowed location(s)
  - Environmental conditions
Unacceptable Use
- Connection method(s)
- Restricted activities

Compliance

As with any policy, define how you measure and enforce your policies

Related Policies

Link to any related polices such as Acceptable Use, Minimum Access, Data Protection and Password policies.

Remote Access Policy