Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Simple security steps 'can safeguard sensitive data'
Mon 07 Jun 2010
Organisations have been encouraged to take simple steps such as encrypting data if it is being taken beyond their headquarters.
Kevin Bocek, director of product marketing at IronKey, said that if these measures had been taken, many recent data breaches would have been "non-issues".
He warned that stored data - information shared on a flash drive or archived on tape - is particularly vulnerable.
This, he said, is because it can be easily lost beyond the confines of an organisation's main base or used without knowledge when the owner is not nearby.
Mr Bocek was speaking after the Information Commissioner's Office revealed that 50 per cent of the data breach reports it has received are down to lost or stolen data or hardware.
Deputy commissioner David Smith acknowledged that mistakes can happen, but said human error is behind a "high proportion" of security breaches that have been reported.
He added that extra vigilance is needed to ensure that sensitive information does not end up in the wrong hands.
Richard Tinham, commercial partner at Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors, commented: "The Information Commissioner's revelations do not come as a surprise.
"They emphasise the need for all organisations to have well thought-out data protection and security policies, having regard to the nature of their business and the data processed by them.
"In this respect, policies are of little practical benefit if members of staff affected by them do not receive suitable training.
"Data protection policies and training should therefore be developed simultaneously in a complementary manner to ensure compliance measures are understood and effective."
