You see it more and more every month. People are beginning to work from home just as often as at the office. The Internet has been a great enabler of this and will only increase in the future. But the question is now becoming if employers should be concerned with the computers employees are using at home to do work. Many businesses take the position of offering company-approved laptops to their remote employees but many more do not. And besides, now with ‘software-as-a-service’ skyrocketing in popularity it doesn’t matter which machine they use anymore. This, therefore, opens up businesses to remote employees connecting to them with unpatched, untested, virus filled systems.

So now that I’ve probably freaked you out let me tell you why this would be a positive.

1) (And most obvious) It would protect the business all the more.

I wouldn’t think you would have to go to the same scrutiny as the office machines but at the very least, make sure they are updating to the latest patches, running anti-virus (use the free AVG if they aren’t), and get the system immunized and checked for spyware.

2) What a great benefit for the employees!

Employees would appreciate that their employer cares enough about them to check their own systems and ensure they are protected from the bad guys out there. They don’t want their own financial info stolen just as badly as you. You might even want go as far as allowing your employees to use your IT staff to help with computer problems that they are having at home. With company’s like Google offering free meals, workout facilities, massages, and more…you have to find a way to keep your employees happy.