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Encryption
In June 2006 the US government mandated laptop encryption and two factor authentication for all laptops used by federal civilian agencies. Why?
"…recent incidents involved the theft of 26,000 Social Security Numbers and photos at U.S. Department of Agriculture, a laptop containing fingerprints of 291 employees of the Internal Revenue Service, the Energy Department's loss of 1,500 employee and contractor's personal records at the National Nuclear Security Administration, a compromise of the identities of 2.2 million active-duly military personnel at the Department of Veteran Affairs, a stolen laptop at the Federal Trade Commission with data on 110 people, the Navy discovered 28,000 personal records one day on a website, and finally, an insurance company employee exposed 17,000 personal Medicare records according to the Department of Health and Human Services."
Encryption is the best effort to prevent the loss of business property. And today more than ever, that means laptops. If you think about it, a company laptop is a portable extension of your business that probably stores confidential company and client files. Theft of devices will happen. Theft of information can be prevented.
Today a single lost or stolen laptop could compromise an entire organization. Take Corporate Screening Services as an example. CSS does extensive background checks and employment verifications and works with some of the country's top employers to provide an analytical approach to background screening. Confidential information is their business. And with eight laptops in the field at any time, encrypted laptops secure their sensitive, proprietary data.
"It's important to me that we have that kind of security. We take the responsibility of keeping private, personal data confidential and secure very seriously," states Dennis Drellishak, president of Corporate Screening Services. "With the help of ATS, we are able to provide peace of mind to our clients knowing that their data will be protected both inside our facility as well as outside."
If you have been following this new series of e-newsletters, you may be getting the theme. Your IT is integral to your company. The people, the IT and the data make your company successful. We want to help you protect that.
This is just food for thought. Of course there are links to some articles.
Talk to you soon,
Jim
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