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Archive for the ‘Alertsec Express’ category

Leak Fear as Hospital Loses Patient Detail

April 29th, 2011

Flah Drive

As the number of laptop and data storage device robbery increasing day by day, the negligence of different organizations about the implementation of data encryption software and laptop encryption software come to the notice of ICO. Though ICO is trying hard to make all the organizations aware about the importance of encryption of data but the organizations are showing to less energy to encrypt the laptops and data storage devices. As a result of that any short of data or device loss is making huge effect on the organization.

ICO came to know that recently at Queen Marry Hospital a flash drive which contained the details of the patients of that hospital had been lost. Though the main copy of those data has been stored in a computer with password protection but the data in the flash drive was neither encrypted nor password protected.

The hospital informs that the flash drive contained the names and id numbers of at least 19 patients of them. From this we can easily understand the situation that is going to occur if the incident came to the notice of those patients. And not only in this hospital but this thing is happening in everywhere like; schools, different organizations even in antivirus developing organizations also. A source of the hospital informed that the data was stored in the flash drive from a password protected computer to upgrade the computer. The management of the hospital immediately lodged a report to the police and they assured that the treatment of the patients would not be affected due to this incident.

Such type of incidents shows us the importance of data encryption software, computer security software. If encryption is enabled in our system and storage devices then we do not have to worry about the manipulation of data after the data has been lost. Though a lot of encryption software is available in the market and ICO is trying their best so that every organization uses those encryption softwares to protect their system and data but due to unawareness and negligence most of the organizations show lethargy to implement it in their organizations. ICO has decided to take some serious steps so that every organization will implement those softwares in their organization.

Though the hospital informed the police and the patients and apologized to them for their mistakes, just to put off the light from their fault but everyone can easily understand the effect of this incident.

About Alertsec:-

Alertsec is one of the leading data encryption software providers. Alertsec offers computer protection that is convenient and affordable. Analysis of the total cost of ownership of the Alertsec Xpress solution and the major alternatives show that the benefits of the Cloud Service can cut the TCO by up to half.

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Posted in Alertsec Express, Computer security, Data Protection, Encryption, Encryption Chip, Hard Disk, USB Key, full disk encryption

Tags: Cloud computing Cryptography data encryption Data storage device Encryption security

Laptop Encryption: Protect Your Data from Hackers

April 28th, 2011

Laptop Encryption

A simple incident can turn to be the biggest problem of your life and later you may find that it happened just because of your negligence. Though there are several laptop encryption software and laptop encryption software available in the market to secure our personal and professional data but still we neglect it.

According to ICO as most of the organization does not follow the rules of data encryption and they are less interested about implementing any laptop encryption software, so as a result most of the stored data of those organizations remain unencrypted. So, any sort of loss or theft can cause a huge damage to those organizations. As an example they mentioned about the incident of Freehold School. A laptop was theft from the car of one the teachers of that school, the laptop contained the details of around 90 pupils and all those data were unencrypted.

As we are aware that the hackers are more interested in personal data and they are such powerful that minimum negligence to the data encryption act can harm your system. As a prove we can take the incident of Ashampoo, a German software company, though they are also a computer security software company but the hackers got success to hack their system and stole the personal details of their clients. As Ashampoo took an immediate step to protect their data the loss of information did not harm them too much, but the incident could have been more damaging.

In case of Freehold Community School, ICO found that the management of the school was totally unaware about the importance of laptop encryption software. Though their systems contain personal data but still they did not protect their data or they did not follow any security system to protect their data. As most of the organization does not take the importance of data encryption seriously so ICO wanted to take financial steps against them. They wanted to do surveys on different organization and if any organization been found guilty under the data law act, they want to punish them.

The ICO takes some routine steps to make aware the institutes and organizations about the importance of laptop encryption software. The steps that ICO can take to secure and encrypt the data of an organization are as follows:

Criminal prosecution.
Non-criminal enforcement.
Audit.

Now the main question is how to stay secure………

Though there are various data encryption software and sites available to protect your personal data but you can follow some routine works to maintain the preliminary protection of the data by,

1. Any attachment should not be opened randomly.

2. Use antivirus softwares to your system to protect it from the virus.

3. Always treat messages from unknown senders with suspicion.

4. After any sort of doubt contact immediately to the nearest police station and lodge a complaint.

As, the hackers are increasing in numbers and also improving in quality of action day by day , so you have to be sure that your system is encrypted, portable and mobile data storage devices, so that you can feel free from any sort of damage to your personal data or the data stored in your system or in storage devices. Because “precaution is better that cure”.

About Alertsec:

Alertsec Xpress is the No.1 encryption service provider for hundreds of banks and financial institutions worldwide. They are providing 24*7 customer service system. By offering computer security software, encryption with lowest TCO (Total Cost of Operation), Checkpoint and Pointec they are assuring to make data secure. For more details about Alertsec log on to; http://www.alertsec.com

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Posted in Alertsec Express, Computer security, Data Protection, Encryption, computer security software, full disk encryption, laptop encryption, laptop theft

Tags: Encryption laptop laptop encryption laptop encryption solution security

New Data Breach Incident at Leicester City Council

March 26th, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

The city council at Leicester has officially confirmed the loss of USB memory stick which contains the details of around 4,000 people. The news was officially confirmed to a local newspaper.

The device contained the medical details and home security codes for over 4,000 city residents and it was lost earlier in the month.

The people whose details have been lost were signed up to LeicesterCare which is a service providing support to the vulnerable city residents. The stolen USB stick contains details of medical information, 2,000 keysafe codes which also allow access to the homes of residents.

It is an irony that this news incidents happens almost after 2 years since the time when Leicester city council had signed up an undertaking with ICO for the loss of information of over 80 children. That incident was also related to an unencrypted memory stick.

The council’s official spokesperson said, “We can confirm we are investigating the possible loss of a data device that contains personal details of around 4,000 LeicesterCare users”. “At this time we have no reason to believe this data has been removed deliberately”.

Why are USB sticks lost?

Let’s try to answer a simple yet relatively unsolved question. Why is it that the USB sticks are lost or stolen? Well apparently, the single biggest thing which comes to our mind is the miniature and compact size of these devices. These devices are so small that it is relatively easier for anyone to pick them up at will. Not only that, sometimes people just tend to misplace these devices or put them in places where they tend to forget.

Off-course you can use tools mentioned in this blog-post to grab the attention of the finder, but it is always advisable to use data security software or data encryption software.

Coming back to the council they have started an operation to reset all codes and have reported the mission information to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). ICO has off-course begun their own investigations and also alerted the police. The management team at council have asked the staff members to search for their desks just in-case there was a possibility of staff members taking the stick by mistake.

The Leicester city council has apologized to everyone who has been aftec. 59 year old Angie Beale who is a resident of St Andrew’s area at Leicester, has a keysafe at her home which ensures safety incase her 87 year old husband suffers from a fall. Angie is disappointed and says that ‘I think it’s disgusting they can lose something like that, especially with medical details that are personal.’

One of the 2000 affected people Angie Beales

Secure your Data with Alertsec

Following the essential guidelines is very necessary for data security in any organization. This news exemplifies the need for data protection applications. In an incident which highlights the need of Data encryption software and recovery software, the threat could have simply been reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.

“Small” Data Breach incidents hit the 9,100 mark in First Year

March 17th, 2011

As they say everybody knows all the big things that happen in your area. It is something that applies to breach incidents as well. If you talk about the large scale breach issues they are also very common. The HHS website i.e. the portal of Health and Human Services is maintaining a report of all the incidents that track the data breaches.

At the same time, HHS also receives queries and reports which involve breach incidents that are less than 500 people. While it is not a mandatory condition for the department to report this data publicly, the same was visible in the federal 2012 budget.

According to the reports by Office for Civil Rights reports there have been 9,109 breach reports received till September 30, 2010. These are reports which affected less than 500 individuals. If you actually do the calculation, it represents 365 days of reports amounting to 25 reports per day.

So how are the incidents reported?

Reporting for data breaches is also provisional for the HITECH Act. It modified HIPAA and requires that covered bodies report all breach incidents related to unsecured health information to HHS. Also any breaches that involve 500 or more people must be reported from within 60 days of their discovery.

In addition, there is directive from HITECH to HHS for publishing of these reports on its Website.

The critical thing is that the number of reports i.e. 9,109 actually exceeds the breach incidents that were estimated by OCR in its interim final rule in 2009. According to that rule, OCR had projected about 106 breach reports annually.

Secure your Data with Alertsec

Worried with the above incident and think you could also be a potential victim? In-order to avoid such incidents, following essential guidelines is very necessary for data security in any organization. In an incident which highlights the need of Data encryption software and recovery software, the threat could have simply been reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data.

Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.

Twitter Finalizes FTC Security Settlement (informationweek.com)
York Uni exposes students’ private info (go.theregister.com)
Twitter settles with FTC over security breaches (arstechnica.com)

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Posted in Alertsec Express, Data Protection, data breach

Tags: data security Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Medical record OCR Office for Civil Rights Optical character recognition Protected health information security United States Department of Health and Human Services Website

Major Data Breach at Britain’s Identity and Passport Services

March 3rd, 2011

Bretain's Identity and Passport Service in data breach

It has been an ongoing problem for organizations to keep secure their sensitive data. Hacking of such information is an emerging issue and became common nowadays. Security threats are increasingly becoming focused on where the organization keeps its data and how to break data security. This time Britain’s Identity and Passport Services (IPS) is in a major data breach. 21 passport renewal applications went missing from the Britain’s Identity and Passport Office and it is still not confirm how the documents were lost. No one is there to confirm how the documents went missing neither the commissioner nor the IPS.

Information Commissioners Office

Identity and Passport Services has breached the country’s Data Protection Act and reprimanded by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) for losing the applications. ICO informed that the documents were lost in May 2010 and all affected individuals were informed. The lost documents included personal data of both the applicants and the counter-signatories.

Mick Gorrill, head of enforcement at the ICO said, “A passport is an important identification document and it is clearly of concern that information relating to renewal applications has been lost”.

To be levied with a fine, the breach must either have been deliberate or the data controller must have known that there was a risk that a contravention would occur and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. The ICO has got the additional powers of levying in April 2010. Since that ICO has fined a total of four organizations and have authority to fine up to £500,000 for the most serious breaches.

Identity and Passport Service Response

There was no evidence to suggest that the applications have fallen into the wrong hands but Identity and Passport Service taking steps to stop this happening again and has signed an undertaking to improve its data storage procedures and policies.

UK Passport

According to a spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service, “IPS takes the security of its customer data extremely seriously. Following the loss of details relating to 21 passport applications in May 2010, IPS took immediate action to cancel the application information. We are confident that customers were not subject to any risk of identity fraud”.

IPS agreed to regular audits and inspections of its procedures and an internal security review has been carried out since the lapse in data security. During the past five years IPS has safely handled more than 25 million passport applications but have significantly tightened its processes to prevent such an incident happening again.

A simple mistake or carelessness can cost substantial amounts of money and data loss. There is a need for organizations to use data encryption software or other data protection measures for the security of sensitive information.

Secure your Data with Alertsec

Following the essential guidelines is very necessary for data security in any organization. This news exemplifies the need for data protection applications. In an incident which highlights the need of Data encryption software and recovery software, the threat could have simply been reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data.

Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.