Remote work policy

The Remote Work Policy (P09) provides a comprehensive framework for managing secure remote access and mitigating the unique risks associated with distributed work environments. It is designed for all personnel, including full-time, part-time, contract employees, service providers, consultants, vendors, and project-based staff, who are authorized to perform job duties from outside corporate premises. The policy is effective across all geographies and time zones where the organization operates, ensuring a uniform security baseline regardless of where or when remote work occurs. Its core purpose is to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of organizational information assets that are accessed or handled off-site. The policy accomplishes this by instituting robust technical and procedural safeguards, such as mandatory encryption, strong authentication (including multi-factor authentication), endpoint protection, and secure access channels like VPN or remote desktops. It aligns tightly with ISO/IEC 27001:2022 requirements, including Annex A Control 6.7, which focuses on secure remote working conditions, ensuring both physical and logical protections are addressed. The controls also respond to industry regulations such as NIST SP 800-53 (for access and cryptographic protections), GDPR and NIS2 (for data security and privacy), and DORA (for financial ICT resilience). Specific sections of the policy delineate roles and responsibilities across executive management, information security leadership (CISO/ISMS Manager), IT operations, HR, line managers, legal/compliance, and remote personnel themselves. For example, IT is tasked with deploying and supporting secure infrastructure, tracking device compliance, and maintaining event logs. Employees and contracted remote workers must adhere to secure device usage, approved access methods, data handling rules, and promptly report any security incidents or device loss. The policy strictly prohibits remote access except through authorized configurations and requires all devices, corporate-owned or BYOD, to meet baseline security (configuration, patching, encryption, anti-malware) and registration requirements. Governance mechanisms within the policy address risk treatment, exception management, and enforcement rigorously. Risk categories such as credential theft, data exfiltration, insider threat, regulatory violations, and malware compromise are directly addressed with layered controls: role-based access, SIEM alerting, endpoint security, data handling rules, and user training. Furthermore, all exceptions must be CISO-approved, documented, and periodically reviewed. Continuous oversight is maintained through monitoring, centralized logging, and defined audit processes. Policy breaches are subject to access revocation, disciplinary measures, contract termination, or legal action. The policy also integrates closely with related policies, including Information Security, Acceptable Use, Access Control, Risk Management, Asset Management, Data Retention & Disposal, and Logging & Monitoring, to form an end-to-end remote work governance model. Its annual or event-driven review cycle ensures responsiveness to evolving threats, regulatory shifts, or technology advances, with all updates formally communicated and acknowledged. This consistently enforces secure, compliant, and reliable operations across all remote work scenarios.