Organizations face the challenge of protecting their intellectual property and the personally identifiable information (PII) of their employees, their customers and clients; additional measures must be implemented to secure this information when it is carried outside of the confines of the office building.

The complexities involved in mitigating privacy and security risk to protect PII is compounded when an organization offers telecommuting opportunities to their employees. The practice of mobile and remote computing creates an added layer of strain on information security officers that work to address privacy and security risks as the number of telecommuters continues to rise and threats evolve.

In a study by Ernst & Young and The Center for Democracy and Technology titled, Risk at home: privacy and security risks in telecommuting, results illustrate the concerns of businesses, the current state of their privacy and security practices and the weaknesses that exist that require immediate consideration. The areas covered in this report include a review of devices used by telecommuters, recommendations for securing hardware and software and technology controls and solutions to name a few.

Sagi Leizerov, Ph.D. of Ernst & Young’s Advisory Services group and member of the AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force was a major contributor to this endeavor and advises organizations to "assess, review and monitor the use of technology by employees working from home or off-site to prevent data from being misused and an individual's privacy from being violated".

Download a copy of Risk at home: privacy and security risks in telecommuting