Data Theft Message: Don't Take Work Home

Looks like the ongoing VA data theft scandal is shaping up to be a major setback for flexible workplace arrangements. Now the VA wants to cut back on telework and eliminate employees' access to department networks from their home PCs. That sends a strong message to employees not only at VA, but across government: Punch in and punch out at the office, and never take work home. Why take the risk that you'll end up bringing home data that will be deemed sensitive? (We in the media will end up reinforcing this message, because we'll be on the lookout for the next story that even remotely resembles this one, in search of a trend.)

Keep in mind that however big a mistake the VA employee made in bringing home sensitive data, he was presumably doing it out of dedication to his job. He wasn't an official teleworker, which means he was working with the information on his own time. From now on, fewer employees will go down that road.