March Madness and Data Breaches

Last night was the culmination of March Madness for the men’s NCAA basketball teams and the University of Connecticut won (Go Huskies!). Tonight the women meet to decide on a national champion. These college games have garnered a lot of attention from the president of the United States to people all over the world. It is truly madness and fun. Unfortunately there has been another madness in the world of data security. The last...

Last night was the culmination of March Madness for the men’s NCAA basketball teams and the University of Connecticut won (Go Huskies!). Tonight the...

Tomorrow is April 1, 2011. Yes, that’s April Fool’s Day and today is World Backup Day. The goal of this day and site is to bring awareness to the need for people and businesses to back up their data. It’s also about data security and the value of your business. The last joke you want to hear on April Fool’s Day is my data is gone. Information is the most important and valuable asset...

Tomorrow is April 1, 2011. Yes, that’s April Fool’s Day and today is World Backup Day. The goal of this day and site is...

Most of us still remember the horrible and constant images of the BP oil spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico. The residents are still trying to piece their lives back together and some are finally getting a little solace. Now to add insult to injury, a BP employee lost a laptop with personal information on Louisiana residents who filed claims for compensation. The data included a spreadsheet of names, Social Security numbers,...

Most of us still remember the horrible and constant images of the BP oil spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico. The residents...

A lot of information security leaks are attributed to insider threats. Just look at Wikileaks and the US government. An Army private copied thousands of documents onto a CD and walked out the door with them. This may be an extreme case, but is becoming more common. A lot of data and document security issues are due to the oops factor; we do it accidentally or unknowingly. Most of us don’t willingly comprise our...

A lot of information security leaks are attributed to insider threats. Just look at Wikileaks and the US government. An Army private copied thousands...

Social engineering is the act of coercing or manipulating people into divulging confidential information or into taking actions that allow someone to steal confidential information. This is very different from using technical hacking techniques or exploiting computer or networking weaknesses to get this information. Social engineering works on our psychology. Just think of all the ads and scams that play on people’s emotions to buy something or donate money. It uses the same thinking...

Social engineering is the act of coercing or manipulating people into divulging confidential information or into taking actions that allow someone to steal confidential...

This week Health Net, a health insurance provider to about 6 million people in the US, came clean on a data breach that occurred 2 months ago. According to the company, it lost nine server drives from its California data center on January 21, 2011. Those drives contained the data of 2 million customers, employees and health care providers. Information included names, addresses, health information, Social Security numbers and possibly financial information. IBM, which...

This week Health Net, a health insurance provider to about 6 million people in the US, came clean on a data breach that occurred...

Here’s another great video about document and information security. How many times has this happened to you on an airplane or other public place? You can get security screens for your laptop to make sure no one can read what’s on the screen. It’s also a good idea to lock your laptop when you leave it. ...

Here’s another great video about document and information security. How many times has this happened to you on an airplane or other public place? ...

Information is the most important and valuable asset to your business. Without it, you are just a bunch of people who get together to talk (or email or tweet or ____). Once you develop, use and maintain a common set of knowledge, processes and expertise, you create intellectual property that is valuable. Whether that information is the specs on machine tools or the source code for your next software application, if you lost it,...

Information is the most important and valuable asset to your business. Without it, you are just a bunch of people who get together to...

How many times have you left your laptop open and walked away for just a minute? We all do it. If you’re at home or in a locked office, it’s no big deal. If your in a coffee shop or the cafeteria at work, it’s an invitation for someone to steal documents, email and data. Lock your computer before you walk away. Use Windows Key – L to lock a Windows computer. It’s a...

How many times have you left your laptop open and walked away for just a minute? We all do it. If you’re at home...

If you are a business or individual in the United States and you have someone prepare your taxes, make sure the firm is complying with The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). This legislation protects private financial information and controls the collection and disclosure of that information by CPAs, accountants and tax preparers. With over 4 million small business in the US, this means a lot of tax documents. Your tax preparer must have safeguards to protect...

If you are a business or individual in the United States and you have someone prepare your taxes, make sure the firm is complying...

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