Clean desk and physical security in practice
For all staff who handle customer, staff or business information at a desk, in shared offices, at home or while travelling. Prerequisite: 'Handling information and physical security' (the everyday habits). This course goes further: running an end-of-day clean desk and clear screen check, choosing the right disposal route for paper and old devices, dealing with tailgating and unescorted visitors without confrontation, protecting devices and papers away from the office, and reporting a physical incident that may be a personal data breach. Examples follow UK GDPR guidance from the ICO (the UK regulator) and US guidance from CISA; your organization's own procedures decide the details. This is not legal advice and the course does not make you a security or data protection officer.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 90 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Run an end-of-day clean desk and clear screen check and identify what must be locked away, removed or logged off
- Choose the right disposal route for paper records, printouts and old devices that hold personal or confidential information
- Handle tailgating, unescorted visitors and propped doors using the site procedure, without confrontation
- Protect work devices and papers when working away from the office, at home or while travelling
- Report a physical security incident or possible personal data breach at once, with the facts the response team needs
Course outline
- 1.Run an end-of-day clean desk and clear screen checkLesson · 14 min
- 2.Choose the right disposal route for paper records, printouts and old devicesLesson · 14 min
- 3.Handle tailgating, unescorted visitors and propped doors using the site procedureLesson · 15 min
- 4.Protect work devices and papers when working away from the officeLesson · 13 min
- 5.Report a physical security incident or possible personal data breach at onceLesson · 12 min
- 6.Clean desk and physical security in practice: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Clean desk and physical security in practice: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- ICO: A guide to data security (UK GDPR security principle; physical and organisational measures; staff training)
- ICO: Personal data breaches: a guide
- ICO: Information security checklist (advice for small and medium organisations)
- CISA: Protecting Portable Devices: Physical Security (revised 27 September 2019)
- CISA: Insider Threat Mitigation
See it with your own jobs and topics
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