Page 124 - Cyber Defense eMagazine for July 2020

Building A Telework Health Scorecard To Meet Surge

Requirements And Long-Term Resiliency

By Stan Lowe, Global Chief Information Security Officer, Zscaler

Over the past months, the U.S. Federal government has deployed solutions to keep employees
productive and secure from any location, including at home. The initial rapid response typically included
increasing capacity, deploying new remote access options, and enhancing security measures.

As CIOs and CISOs move forward from the initial crisis mode, they now need to take a harder look at the
systems in place – what is working and what is needed. But, to get the right answers, we have to ask
the right questions.

There are different sets of considerations and evaluation questions to ask in initial crisis phases vs. in
steady-state environments. IT leaders can build customized telework health scorecards for these two
phases to provide a comprehensive view and then prioritize the next steps.

Initial Crisis Telework Health Evaluation Criteria

1. What do we need to do? Prioritize the most important tasks. Then, consider the resources users
will need and what can be postponed or cut altogether.

2. Who needs access, when? Consider the access policies needed to align access with mission
priorities. Do all employees need to have always-on connectivity? What work requires only occasional

Cyber Defense eMagazine –July 2020 Edition 124
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