Working from home has been thrust upon employers and employees alike during the Covid-19 pandemic. While employers in some countries had already been taking steps towards work from home arrangements for white collar employees, many employers had not seriously considered such arrangements before the pandemic.

Melody Chan, a Hong Kong-based partner at White & Case, says in a client alert that “the surge in internet traffic and the increased reliance on remote access and online conferencing platforms have created concerns over the resilience of the IT infrastructures that keep things running.”

Working from home also exposes companies to increased security risks and internet fraud, she says.

“IT service providers worldwide, such as internet broadband providers, virtual private network (VPN) operators and cloud computing firms, are facing unprecedented challenges to meet demands so as to enable businesses to continue to operate while employees work in their home environment. Apart from the potential strains on different IT systems, interruptions in societies may also prevent engineers from attending onsite checks and maintaining hardware and cables, posing a real-time stress test on the world’s IT infrastructures,” she writes.

Chan warns that whether corporations have been working remotely for weeks or are just starting to do so, “IT disruptions during the Covid-19 outbreak could substantially impact the performance of day-to-day business.”

She provides several tips for employers; details are available in the client alert.

• Review IT service contracts
• Review insurances polices
• Assess business operations and evaluate their reliance on IT services
• Publish internal work from home policies for employees’ reference
• Closely monitor IT incidents and disruptions
• Beware of fraud and potential hacking risks

The key message for all corporations, Chan says, is to have full knowledge of their rights and obligations on existing IT services contracts, be acutely aware of their businesses’ reliance on various IT services, and be prepared to act promptly and flexibly in the event of any IT disruptions or security breach. “As the Covid-19 outbreak has evolved from an unprecedented event to a known risk, corporations should consider taking active steps to mitigate risks and losses arising from potential IT disruptions which could substantially impact their businesses.”

Gregory Glass