The first day at work
On her first day at a made-up estate agent, Tia gets a short document to read and sign. It says what she may do on the computers and what she must never do.
Why does a company bother? Because rules written down, read and agreed beat rules that people only guess. This lesson is about those documents.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe four common IT policies and say what each one is for.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Policy | a written rule an organisation expects people to follow |
| Procedure | the steps to follow to carry out a policy |
| Acceptable use policy | rules on how staff may use IT |
| Disaster recovery | a plan to get systems working again after a serious problem |
| Backup | a spare copy of your data in another place |
| Personal data | facts about a living person who can be identified |
| Malware | software made to cause harm |
| Compliance | following the law and the rules |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
An acceptable use policy sets the rules
An acceptable use policy says how staff may use IT. It usually covers four things.
Internet and email: what is allowed and what is not, such as not opening unknown attachments. Security and passwords: how strong they must be, and that they are never shared. Staff duties: what each person must do and report. Training: staff learn the rules when they start and again each year. Each organisation writes its own, so names and contents differ.
Parts of an acceptable use policy
| Part | Example rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Internet and email | No unknown attachments, no private streaming at work | Reduces malware and wasted time |
| Passwords | Long passwords, never shared, changed if leaked | Stops misuse of accounts |
| Staff duties | Lock the screen, report lost devices at once | Makes everyone part of security |
| Training | A short course on starting and every year | Threats change, so people must keep up |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.