Protecting Personal Information

According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complain data, over 250,000 individuals were the victim of identity theft in 2007. Also, according to a 2007 Ponemon Institute benchmark study, the average cost per reporting company for activities resulting from data loss incidents was more than $6.3 million per breach.

It is important that you protect your personal information at home.  Accidental disclosure can happen in many ways including: losing a laptop, discarding sensitive proprietary documents in ordinary trash cans or simply emailing this type of information without proper encryption. 

When handling information, and while performing your regular daily activities, think about whether the activity you are performing will have an impact on that information; during storage, access, disposal, and transmission.

Keeping the following data information tips in mind will help protect the sensitive proprietary information you may come into contact with every day:
Storage
• At Home: Make sure your sensitive proprietary data is stored in a secure place like a safe
• At Work: Do not leave anything of value exposed in your office / work space (e.g., Lock sensitive Company proprietary documents in desk drawers / file cabinets / or file rooms)
Access
• At Home: Password-protect your home computer and do not use the same password for financial websites and other types of sites
• At Work: Limit access to the Company’s resources and sensitive proprietary information to only those individuals whose job requires such access
Disposal
• At Home: Use a shredder to destroy documents that have your sensitive proprietary information on them
• At Work: Use a shredder or secure disposal bin when discarding documents with Company proprietary information including sensitive customer, employee, or Company information (Note that official Company records should only be destroyed in compliance with the Records Retention Policy)
Transmission
• At Home: Be sure you know who you are communicating with before you offer your sensitive proprietary data either via phone or email
• At Work: Do not send Company proprietary information (credit card, social security numbers, etc.) by email without using an encryption process approved by IT Security
 

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