When employees leave their workspaces behind — whether that’s for the night, the weekend, a longer vacation, or just a quick lunch break — they may leave behind potentially sensitive information where it can easily be accessed by unauthorized parties. Unsecured USB drives, data files left open on desktops and printouts of confidential documents are just a few examples of items that employees may carelessly leave out when stepping away from their workspaces.

The purpose of this customizable Clean Desk Policy, written by Kara Sherrer for TechRepublic Premium, is to provide guidelines for protecting sensitive information and data from unauthorized access when staff are away from their desks.

• Featured text from the policy:

  Computers should be locked with a password whenever employees step away from their desks. Employees should not share this password with anyone. Computers should be set to auto-lock after a time period of no longer than 15 minutes, so that the device will secure itself if an employee is unexpectedly called away from their desk.

  Computers, hard drives, and other devices should be secured in a locked filing cabinet when employees leave for the night. Computers should be completely powered down at the end of each workday instead of being left in sleep or standby mode to further reduce chances of unauthorized access. Exemptions may be made if computers need to download scheduled software updates that would take prohibitively long during working hours.

Enhance the security of your organization with our five-page policy document. This is available for download at just $9. Alternatively, enjoy complimentary access with a Premium annual subscription.

TIME SAVED: Crafting this content required 10 hours of dedicated writing, editing, research, and design.