Guide
Common Compliance Mistakes
The recurring, expensive errors we see small businesses make — and the cheap correction for each.
Beginner
9 min
Free
NIST CSF
NIST SP 800-171
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Template
Remote Work Policy
Security expectations for home offices, travel, personal devices, and public networks.
- Intended audience
- Remote and hybrid staff
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Estimated time
- 20 minutes
- Access
- Free
NIST CSF
NIST SP 800-171
All industries
Version v1.0.0 · Last reviewed 2026-08-01 · Document owner: ComplianceAnvil Content Team
What you will be able to do
- Set baseline device requirements for remote work, including encryption and automatic updates.
- Address network risk for home offices and public networks.
- Cover physical security practices for devices and printed material used outside the office.
- Decide and document whether personal devices are permitted and under what conditions.
1. Devices
- Encryption enabled.
- Automatic updates on.
- Screen lock within a short idle period.
2. Networks
- Home network uses a unique administrator password.
- Company data is not accessed over untrusted public networks without protection.
3. Physical security
- Devices are not left unattended in public.
- Printed material is stored securely or shredded.
4. Personal devices
State whether personal devices are allowed and under what conditions.
Key takeaways
- Remote work security starts with device basics: encryption enabled, automatic updates on, and a short screen-lock timeout.
- Home network administrator passwords must be changed from the default, since routers are a common weak point.
- Company data should not be accessed over untrusted public networks without protection such as a VPN.
- Physical security rules, like not leaving devices unattended in public and shredding printed material, matter as much as technical controls.
- The policy should state explicitly whether personal devices (BYOD) are allowed and under what conditions, rather than leaving it ambiguous.
Sources
Written from these public, authoritative publications. ComplianceAnvil paraphrases and summarizes them; it does not reproduce copyrighted control text.
NIST · 2.0
Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
NIST · Revision 3
SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
How this was written and reviewed
Published
- Author
- ComplianceAnvil Editorial Team
- Technical reviewer
- ComplianceAnvil Technical Review Board
- Jurisdiction
- United States (federal)
- First published
- 2026-08-01
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-01
- Next review due
- 2027-08-01
Version v1.0.0 · Document owner: ComplianceAnvil Content Team
Important
This template is provided for readiness and educational purposes. Organizations should review and adapt it for their environment.
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Put this into practice
Resources tell you what good looks like. A Program Pack does the work with you — generated documentation, tracked controls, training, and evidence in one workspace.