COVID-19 & Cyber Security: Protecting Trade Secrets And Confidential Information During The Telework Boom

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some parts of the country are now in the third month of a lockdown. As a result of the lockdown, a large portion of U.S. businesses quickly transitioned their workforces to telework in the opening weeks of the pandemic. This abrupt shift to work-from-home disrupted many employers' well-established protocols and practices for protecting confidential information and trade secrets, exposing this sensitive information to a heightened risk of theft.

Even as the country begins to reopen, it is unlikely that these new risks will disappear. Employers are still finalizing return-to-work plans for restarting their on-site operations. Moreover, many employers have realized that productivity has not decreased with a switch to telework operations and, in light of the cost benefits associated with teleworking, those employers may plan to maintain the arrangement, for at least portions of their workforces, well after the public health