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Tips
for Protecting Sensitive Data From Malicious Employees During
the Holiday Season
Dr. Doug Jacobson, founder and chief technology officer of Palisade
Systems, recently announced the following top ten tips for businesses
to protect customers' sensitive data from malicious employees.
According to analyst firm Gartner Group, over 70 percent of unauthorized
access to data is committed by employees, and a 2004 CSI/FBI survey
found that internal threats comprise half of security incidents
and account for the largest overall losses. Furthermore, less
than 5 percent of businesses currently deploy technology specifically
designed to identify and eliminate the unauthorized sending of
private content outside their network.
-
Know what data is being collected on your customers and the
reasons for collecting it.
- Understand
what private customer information employees have access to.
- Understand
how employees can send customer data outside your company --
through the network, laptops, PDAs or backup transport.
- Develop
policies for the appropriate handling, use and securing of customer
data, and make sure every employee understands what data is
private.
- Educate
your employees on how to properly handle private data, as well
as how to keep their computers free of security threats such
as worms and spyware.
- Be
sure to communicate your company's procedures and processes
for protecting confidential data to your clients.
-
Hire a third party to perform an annual audit of your security
practices. Through penetration tests, your company will better
understand how adequately protected you are with your existing
network security infrastructure.
- Adopt
a multi-layered security strategy to protect private data. The
strategy should include solutions to enforce access controls
on information and provide private content protection.
- Track
where your customers' sensitive data is being sent. Consider
purchasing technology designed to make sure sensitive data is
being sent to the correct IP address by an employee.
- Encrypt
data if customer information is being transmitted or stored
on a network.
More information about how to protect consumers' sensitive data
can be retrieved from the Federal Trade Commission at: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/safeguards.htm.
For more information about Dr. Jacobson or Palisade Systems,
visit www.palisadesys.com.
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