You should also be careful about information security when working remotely, working from home or when you are on the move. This could be on campus, in an airport or elsewhere where there is a lot of people.
NOTICE: working remotely when travelling to high-risk countries additional guidelines apply.
Online meetings are very common, and it is important to be careful about information security here too.
Do you use printed documents, USB flash drives or other material, and do you store documents and media from home or when you are on the move? Then consider whether the information is internal, sensitive or confidential, and whether it should be withheld from others.
Always use screen lock, no matter where you are, so that unauthorised persons do not get access to AU data.
Do not throw away AU documents with internal, sensitive and/or confidential information or data in your own bin or in a shared bin. Get an approved shredder for your home office or bring the documents to AU and shred them there.
Also make sure that AU documents are not lying around so they can be seen by visitors or passers-by.
Meeting participants depend on the type of data shared at the meeting. Read about AU's four data classifications.
Open meetings at which anyone with a link to the meeting can participate
It is easy for external participants to hide their identity behind an avatar or fake photo in online meetings.
When you hold an open online meeting, it is important that you are in control of who is in the meeting, so that you avoid outsiders 'disturbing' your meeting with unpleasant audio, video, chat and/or screen sharing, for example. To avoid this, use a password for the meeting, the 'waiting room' function or meeting registration.
If you do not want to use these functions, it may be a good idea to change your meeting to a webinar. This will automatically give you control of who can participate with video, audio, chat and screen sharing.
Closed meetings require a personal invitation
You should also consider whether there is a need to have a password to get access to the meeting.
When you have to give a presentation, be careful that you do not reveal more than you intend.
Sharing a screen, program or presentation can sometimes mean that other participants see your notes and other internal information. When you share your screen, close all other unnecessary programs and avoid showing your desktop, so that only the presentation, photo or document is shown to all participants. This will help you keep check on what the other participants can see.
Employees and students should make sure they are aware of IT security – also when travelling.
The Centre for Cyber Security (CFCS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark have prepared guidelines/publications and advice on IT security when travelling.
Be careful when using Wi-Fi in airports, cafés or in other public places. There is a risk that your personal information, such as credit card information or passwords, can be intercepted and misused.
Only log on to Wi-Fi that requires a password. If possible, use the internet on your mobile phone via the mobile network, possibly through a local telephone company. Note that roaming charges for mobile data can be quite high, depending on your subscription and the country in question.
When working on Wi-Fi in public places it is a good idea to use VPN. That encrypts the communication between the device you are using and AU's systems.
Delete Wi-Fi from your phone and computer when it is no longer relevant. If you have been connected to a public network at the airport or in other public places, you should delete it afterwards.
Contact your local IT support team if you have any questions.
When you are working from cafés, hotels, trains and busses, anyone can listen in. This increases the risk of unauthorised persons gaining access to confidential information about products, data, colleagues and partners. This applies to both digital and physical meetings. This may also apply when working from home.
Use headphones so that unauthorised listeners can only hear one part of the interview. This will help to protect your conversation partners and their information.
It is easy to leak internal, confidential and sensitive data if you post photos or video material from your place of work on social media. Therefore, be particularly careful with work-related tasks and information you share on social media. Avoid photos of screens, communication equipment, notes and documents.
Many people are not aware that the information they send via messaging services, especially ordinary text messages, is sent in clear text. This means that the messages are not protected and can be read by others if they are intercepted. Therefore, consider whether your message needs to be protected and, if so, use an encrypted message service instead.
Source: Centre for Cyber Security