INTRODUCTION
Now that COVID-19 has largely passed, it’s time for software companies to take a step back to reassess their work environments and policies related to protecting their intellectual property (IP), particularly in regards to having “reasonable measures,” the criteria used with trade secret litigation. Most, if not all, software companies with staffs larger than a few people likely have some policies regarding their IP, for example, having Nondisclosure Agreements (NDAs) and provisions related to confidentiality in their agreements with third parties and employees. Larger software companies typically have a broad range of policies and measures in place reflecting their ability to make investments in security- related activities as well as other factors. Publicly- traded companies that do business outside of the United States must also implement policies related to IP and technology risks with international operations. No matter the size and scope of a software company the reality that many managers face is determining just how far to go with the adoption of policies and related reasonable measures to protect their intellectual property, particularly trade secrets. These reasonable measures may certainly fall under the umbrella of security policies to protect against hacking and malware, but reasonable measures often involve different, albeit, related objectives. The management challenge is further compounded by the expectations of many team members to continue, at least partially if not nearly 100 percent of the time, working remotely using collaboration tools and other technologies. The CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) or anyone tasked with developing and implementing polices to protect their organization’s IP generally has to be selective in what s/he does; only a small percentage of companies have the resources to do nearly everything possible to protect their IP. Not enough protections could potentially result in loss of trade secrets and issues with potentially customer proprietary data becoming public. Too many protections can slow down product development, inhibit innovation, and cause frustration among key personnel, partners, and customers.
