Every employer should know that “Prohibiting Employee Use of Portable Mobile & Storage Devices” is a key cybersecurity initiative that an employer may take as part of taking reasonable measures to protect confidential information and trade secrets. As we continue to explore other key cybersecurity initiatives in this post and Part IX of the series, we have provided you with key information on “Implementation of a Need-to-Know Access Policy,” which is the fourth cybersecurity initiative that every employer should take pursuant to the same goal.
Implementation of a Need-to-Know Access Policy
As we have mentioned since the first blog under this series, employers should take all reasonable, appropriate, suitable, and necessary measures and policies to ensure that their trade secrets and confidential information remain safe and secret, as they should. As one of such measures and policies, electronic access to trade secrets should only be limited to designated employees and those who need the information from those trade secrets to perform the essential functions and duties of their jobs. In this way, employers can warrant the protection of trade secrets by demonstrating that by limiting electronic access to trade secrets on a need-to-know basis, they believe and consider such information secret.
Based on their specific job duties/roles, security authorization, and level of management, employees should only be provided with access to confidential information that is accessible only through software that restricts access to unauthorized personnel and controls login credentials. Through such a policy, an employer may be able to convince and demonstrate to a court that they took reasonable steps in protecting their trade secrets and confidential information.
In Part X, we shall move the discussion forward by hammering on the “Use of Unique & Individualized Log-in Credentials & Passwords,” which is the sixth consideration among several “Vital Cybersecurity Initiatives that Employers Should Take” as part of taking reasonable steps in protecting their trade secrets and confidential information.
Stay tuned for more legal guidance, training, and education. In the interim, if there are any questions or comments, please let us know at the Contact Us page!
Always rising above the bar,
Isaac T.,
Legal Writer, Author, & Publisher.