CSO

World events are suddenly attracting more employees to telework. The headlines say it all. "Oil prices surge..."  and "Gas over $4.00 a gallon..." These unprecedented gas prices now have telecommuting back on top of business agendas. Don't panic (yet) security leaders, but you'd better dust off those mobile worker security plans.

Over the weekend, USA Today proclaimed that Employers look at cutting down on workers' commutes. Here's an excerpt:

Some employers are reconsidering the traditional five-days-in-the-office pattern as the national average price for a gallon of gas hovers around $4. The idea is to whittle down commuting costs for workers by allowing them to work from home or switch to four days of 10 hours each.

Oakland County Michigan is another example. The Detroit Free Press reported that their government workers will now have new flexible options.

"I think it's exciting," said Zamora, who lives in Flint and commutes more than 70 miles daily to her job in Pontiac at the Oakland County Department of Planning and Economic Development. "I have to see how it's going to fit in with my family schedule, but it's something I hope to take advantage of."

Zamora is one of almost 1,600 Oakland County employees who would be eligible for the plan Patterson announced at a news conference. Patterson said he plans to formally present the idea to county commissioners for their approval within seven to 10 days, and he hopes to see other elected officials consider it for their employees as well.

So what's the big deal? Back last year I presented my views on what's holding government back in regards to telework. I also wrote an editorial in SC Magazine which went event further and stated that telework is not growing as fast as many think. The main reasons were the lack of financial investment and a variety of issues surrounding security and management oversight.

Well the "hold off" trend has now been quickly reversed.  Everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon, and we can only hope that business executives are consulting with security staff before opening the floodgates. I hate to use this term, but this may even be a "telework emergency" for some companies and governments. Why? Many simpy are not prepared.

Even if you already have a plan and many remote workers that securely connect to your business network, will your plans scale? That is, what if the number of employees teleworking doubled or tripled?  Are dollars in place to provide what's needed to work from home? Will this be an unfunded mandate? What policies are in place? How will you protect sensitive data? Are employees trained?

You can get some great guidance at the federal website on teleworking. Don't forget that employees who opt for four 10-hour days may also be informally teleworking on that other day. You need to ensure that secure solutions are available to them as well.

So security teams across the nation need to regroup and relook at telework. Quick! No matter where you're at (unless your business is already at near 100% teleworkers now), the paradigm is rapidly changing. This may be a fad, but I seriously doubt it based upon recent world events.

Just like playing hide and seek with my kids, the telework countdown has now ended - 98, 99,100. Ready or not here it comes ...