Security Basics: Re: Corporate policy question - Personal Laptops

[Aaron Howell <aaron_howell () ngenuity-is com>]

Hi tom,

Tom Yarrish wrote:
> Hey all,
> Needed some advice on a corporate policy issue.  If an employee has a
> personal laptop in the office, and that employee is terminated in the
> process of a merger, can the company wipe the hard drive of the
> personal computer before it's returned to that employee?  
If an employee has a corporate laptop in the office, and that employee
decides to quit because of a merger, can the employee wipe all the files
from the company's file servers?

The answer to your question, and mine, is yes. That CAN happen. Is it
legal in either case? Perhaps. Is it the right thing to do? No.

> I'm trying to determine if this is even legal or not, so I'm not sure
> where to look for advice.
Consult your company's legal counsel. You may get correct opinions from
this list, but you really need to cover your bases here. I can see a
scenario where the ex-employee claims that he had irreplaceable data on
those machines, and by destroying that data your company deprived him of
something. If your business model is such that the ex-employee is not
bound by any sort of NDA/confidentiality agreement/non-compete, and he
has company data on his personal machines, that is the company's fault,
and I don't see how you could assume the right to destroy everything on
the machine, just in case. But I'm not a lawyer. Talk to one.

> Thanks ahead of time....
HTH

-- 
Aaron Howell
nGenuity Information Services
509-396-2075 x6000

http://www.ngenuity-is.com