Information security continues to be in the spotlight – in the media, in public consciousness and, most crucially, in how companies spend their IT budgets. Data, and access to that data, is a high-value target for criminals.

But changes in the way we work are radically impacting the security landscape. More and more organisations are operating a hybrid working model, allowing workers to move flexibly between locations: from the central office to a co-working space, to their home desk and even ‘on-the-go,’ as they move from one workspace to another.

While this new way of working offers a lot of benefits, hybrid and remote working has made information security management more complex. These challenges aren’t insurmountable, though, when you have the right technology and support at your disposal.

Below, we explore four frequently asked questions from organisations managing a hybrid working environment – and explain how Canon can help address them.

Whether you are setting up a hybrid working environment or are looking to optimise an existing one, security should be front of mind. But it’s common for organisations to approach these goals separately, first investing in technology to enable hybrid working and then moving on to secure the extended working environment. Organisations can save time and avoid essentially ‘paying twice’ by looking closely at the security capabilities of hybrid working solutions before they adopt them.

At Canon, we put security first in everything we do, from the inbuilt protection against cyber risks in our hardware and software, to the way we scope, implement and deliver solutions. In fact, Quocirca recognised Canon as an industry leader in print and document security¹ , giving you peace of mind that when you partner with Canon to optimise your hybrid working set-up, information security is at the core of the solution.

It’s important to consider how information will flow across your organisation’s working environments, whether that’s creating, sharing, storing or deleting documents; every one of these points represents a potential vulnerability. One of the benefits of our background in document and information management is that we offer expertise across the full information lifecycle.

Our ecosystem, which includes hardware, software and services, is designed to work holistically to protect your information at every stage; anytime, wherever you work. Our hardware products, together with our enterprise solutions, offer embedded security through features including data encryption, activity logging, secure access to cloud documents and user authentication to ensure documents can only be printed or accessed at the device by the user it was intended for.

Meanwhile, our document management solutions help support your organisation’s efforts by providing a secure repository and collaboration platform for your company’s information. Our smart solutions can recognise common documents and apply automatic security policies to restrict access, so only those who need to see certain information can do so.

Ultimately, enforcing security policies shouldn’t require IT teams to be present. But organisations may be concerned about how to ensure remote employees adhere to best practices, without creating a huge workload for IT teams and frustrations for employees by micromanaging behaviour.

Every organisation will benefit from educating their employees about how to keep their data secure and the reasons behind the policies in place. But a more formalised, consistent way of enforcing security should be a particularly high priority for any business operating in a hybrid environment.

Our cloud-based information management solutions, including Therefore Online and Cloud Workspace Collaboration – Process Automation, provide a structured, secure way for employees to access, store and share documents. As they are cloud-based solutions, they allow employees to access their document workflows wherever they are. However, inbuilt, unobtrusive security provides rules which prevent users from introducing new security vulnerabilities.

For example, access controls prevent workers from opening sensitive documents without permission, while automation built into each solution ensures that documents are routed directly to the right employee at each stage of a workflow.

Gartner found that the use of personal devices and shadow IT is still common in remote workers, with more than half of employees admitting to using collaboration applications or web services not sanctioned by their company². Consider why they would choose non-approved technologies. The answer is typically one of two reasons.

First, when working outside the office, perhaps at home or on-the-go with their own device, an employee may slip into using tools they do in day-to-day life, simply out of habit and because they’re familiar with how they work. They may not be aware of the risks they could introduce by using these tools, so the best strategy to tackle this behaviour is education and training.

Second, an employee may turn to these tools because they’re having trouble with the ones provided by the company. Perhaps they’re slow, complex or painful to access from outside of the company walls.

Providing tools is one thing, but adoption depends on them being seamless and easy to use. At Canon, this is something we always consider when designing our solutions. Cloud Workspace Collaboration – Process Automation and Therefore Online allow employees to interact easily with their documents in real time, wherever they are, from any approved device and without frustrating delays. But, critically, they also provide intrinsic end-to-end document security. Together with our hardware products, we ensure a closed loop to maintain security at all times.

We know that information security isn’t easy at the best of times. We want to enable organisations to adopt the operating model that suits them, without worrying about compromising security or putting their information at risk.

Working with a trusted partner can take the pressure off your team and give you support in assessing the security risks in your IT infrastructure, helping you to anticipate vulnerabilities and build a technology ecosystem that protects against them, no matter where your workforce is based.