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Disaster avoided by encryption? Yay….

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Dissent

I’m so used to reading news stories about thefts where data were not encrypted that my jaw still occasionally drops when it turns out the data were encrypted. Here’s a story like that from Lancashire in the U.K.:

[…]

Eddie Sutton, Lancashire County Council’s assistant chief executive, said: “I can confirm that a number of laptops were stolen from the Rising Bridge offices.

“These were used by staff from adult and community services and children and young people’s services.

“Because of the high levels of encryption security protecting these computers, no one will be able to access files on the computers unless they are authorised to do so.”

Read more on the Lancashire Telegraph.   The Lancashire County Council had gotten their knuckles rapped by the ICO over a 2009 incident when confidential files were left in filing cabinets sold at auction.  It seems they’re keeping their data protective noses clean now, which is great to read.

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Category: Non-U.S.Theft

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3 thoughts on “Disaster avoided by encryption? Yay….”

  1. Donald Moffett says:
    December 2, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    I too am shocked every time I read about a breach that involves unencrypted data. The resistance to encryption is based upon out of date thinking. I talk to technologists and security professionals and I too often hear that encryption adversely impacts performance, it complicates development, and the worst excuse of all is that it is cost prohibitive. When I hear those excuses, I hear two things; first I am dealing with an organization or individual who does not understand the capabilities of new technology, or secondly I am dealing with someone who just refuses to accept change. In either case, they are putting their organizations at great peril and it will take a catastrophic event, like the South Carolina situation, to open their eyes. I applaude the Governor for taking accountablity, but there is an IT and Security management team who should also be held accountable.

    If you are a subscriber to this site (Office of Inadequate Security), you know there are untold numbers of data breaches involving unencrypted data involving financial institutions, healthcare organizations, universities, and government agencies.

    You would think there would be a strong effort to encrypt data, yet, a study, indicated that 46 percent of the lost laptops contained confidential data, only 30 percent of those systems were encrypted, and only 10 percent had other anti-theft technologies. Some of the largest data breaches involved transporting information using non-secured methods; of course in most instances the data was not protected. Clearly, there is a failure to absorb the magnitude of the situation.

    It is time that customers and lawmakers hold companies and individuals accountable, to include government agencies, they should not be exempt from privacy laws. When the government exempts themselves they lose the ability to effectively govern others.

    1. admin says:
      December 2, 2012 at 5:06 pm

      Well said, sir.

  2. IA ENG says:
    December 7, 2012 at 10:07 am

    If I ever had too much time on my hands, it would be great to sit down with the people who buy laptops and IT equipment and see their so-called common sense appraoch for purchasing IT equipment, especially laptops. The company probably shudders at the initial cost of a laptop thats going to be used for “admin work”. The end result is a theft of a laptop which could bring very detrimental circumstances to a thriving business.

    Companies like dell offer laptops that are built for privacy protection. Look at this !
    http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/latitude-e6500/pd?~ck=anav

    In a nutshell this laptop offers:

    •Dell ControlVault™ secure credential management

    •Multifactor authentication using an integrated contactless smart card reader, Trusted Platform Module v1.2 and optional biometric fingerprint reader

    •Solid-state drive (SSD) technology for improved data protection

    •Dell Mobile Asset Protection Services3 that can help maximize uptime while protecting your investment with Extended Battery Service3 and Laptop Tracking and Recovery3

    •Dell Mobile Data Protection Services3 that include Remote Data Delete3, Hard Drive Data Recovery3 and Certified Data Destruction services3 — With these optional services, Dell can remotely delete your sensitive data, prevent potential loss of valuable data, certify destruction of data or recover data from a failed hard drive without a backup.

    Guess what – refurbished versions of this at the Dell Outlet were 20% OFF…they went like wildfire. With all the people I network with, I was notified early, but they were already gone.

    For those looking for a laptop that would offer protection for almost anything, this type of protection is the way to go. You can do it right at first, or you can do it wrong, get breached, pay fines, lose customers, get sued and then do it right.

    Hopefully you choose a path of least resistance.

    No I don’t own stock in Dell

    = Þ

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