Press Release
What is the protective factor of your laptop on holiday?
Helsinki, June 16, 2009 - Summer is the time when most countries
have the longest vacation periods. Regardless of whether the holiday is spent indoors or outdoors,
at home or overseas, most people carry their laptop with them. However, that laptop often belongs
to the company they work for, and thus the employer may be interested in where it is heading and
how well it is secured. It is also good to define who is in charge of the machine and the
confidential material stored in it.
”Now is the perfect time to go through the company’s security policies and check what is said
about employees using their work equipment during their free time. All companies should also make
sure that people leaving for vacation are familiar with these policies”, says
Joona Airamo, the Chief Information Security Officer at
Stonesoft. “If the company does not have a valid security policy, there’s no better time to fix the
situation than now.”
Like many other companies nowadays, the network security provider Stonesoft does not restrict
the use of company laptops during employees’ free time. It is more important to make sure that the
computers have been properly secured. Even though the employees are responsible for their machines
during vacation, in the end the company pays the consequences in case of misuse or theft.
”Regardless of how well the company has secured its own network, the connection from the
holiday resort may be less secure”, Airamo reminds. “Therefore it is once again important to check
that all programs - especially security related ones - are up-to-date. Should the computer get
stolen, it is important that its contents are properly secured (hard drive encrypted) at all times.
In that case, even if a thief would get hold of the machine, he will not be able to access the
company data. Still, it is foremost important to use strong passwords. A weak password can be
easily decrypted and after that the whole encryption is useless.”
Companies should instruct their employees to store confidential data on network drives
instead of saving it on their laptops. Precaution takes you far when it comes to data security, and
in practice you can never be too cautious. For example, when travelling by car the laptop should
always be stored in the trunk where it is out of sight. Too many laptops get stolen annually from
the passengers’ seat through an open window when the car stops at traffic lights.
”People take care, repair and service their boat, barbeque grill and other summer equipment
in the end of the season. In the same way they should maintain their computer when the holiday is
over. Companies should constantly monitor their internal networks to make sure they are secure, but
in addition it would be good to let the IT department check the laptops through before connecting
them to internal network when returning to the office. This would ensure that all possible bugs are
stopped before they have a chance to spread in the network.”
Holiday tips
Employer:
- Instruct the employees of the company’s’ security policy and usage of work equipment during free time
- Ensure that all laptops have been properly secured: program updates in place, computer specific antivirus software and firewall installed and hard drive strongly encrypted.
- If possible, have the IT department check the computers before connecting them back to the
company network when the employee returns to the office
Employee:
- Follow instructions: if the company’s security policy restricts the use of the work laptop during free time, leave it to the office. Should something happen, at least you will not be held accountable.
- Double check that all program updates are in place and if in doubt, check with the company’s IT Manager.
- Do not install games or personal software to the work laptop or surf on scrappy web sites using unprotected network
- If you do not necessarily need the computer on your free time, leave it at home and enjoy your
holiday!
Contact:
For more details, please contact:Joona Airamo, Chief Information Security Officer
Stonesoft Corporation
Tel. +358 (0)9 476 711
Email: joona.airamo(AT)stonesoft.com
About Stonesoft
Stonesoft Corporation (NASDAQ OMX: SFT1V) is an innovative provider of integrated network security solutions to secure the information flow of distributed organizations. Stonesoft customers include enterprises with growing business needs requiring advanced network security and always-on business connectivity.StoneGate™ Secure Connectivity Solution unifies firewall, VPN (Virtual Private Network), IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) and SSL VPN blending network security, end-to-end availability and award-winning load balancing into a unified and centrally managed system. The key benefits of StoneGate the solution include low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), excellent price-performance ratio and high ROI (Return on Investment). The StoneGate Virtual Security Solutions protect the network and ensure business continuity in both virtual and physical network environments.
StoneGate Management Center provides unified management for StoneGate Firewall with VPN, IPS and SSL VPN. StoneGate Firewall and IPS work together to provide intelligent defense all over the enterprise network while StoneGate SSL VPN provides enhanced security for mobile and remote use.
Founded in 1990, Stonesoft Corporation is a global company with corporate headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and Americas headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.stonesoft.com and the corporate blog http://stoneblog.stonesoft.com.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
