Continuing on our journey to improve your business documentation we are going to target the Acceptable Use Policy or AUP, which every business should have and it should be part of the hiring process and reviewed annually by all of your employees.
The purpose of an AUP is to outline the acceptable use of technology including data for your employees. That could be social media postings, what you use your work laptop for, mobile devices, electronic communication, and more.
Your AUP needs to identify the general use and ownership of equipment and data, especially as the remote workforce is not going away anytime soon. It needs to outline that the employee is responsible for the protection of any data on their systems or which they have access. This includes making sure the computer is locked when they are away and not allowing their kids to use the work laptop for schoolwork.
It also needs to outline that you reserve the right to scan computers, network devices, web traffic, e-mail, communication traffic, and other resources to ensure they are being used as outlined in the AUP.
Next you dig into security typically outlining password security requirements and other business practices that are followed like Zero-Trust.
The most important section is the compliance section, and what the penalty is for non-compliance.
If you don’t already have an AUP at your business you can locate a free sample at TheMorningBreach.com to help you get started.
