In this article, security expert Carol Woodbury discusses whether being in compliance guarantees the privacy of your data.
Written by Carol Woodbury
When I was asked to write this article, I had to take a few minutes to determine the answer to the question. My initial reaction was, "Yes, of course. If you're in compliance, the data privacy is ensured." But as I thought about it a bit more, doubts began to crowd out my initial reaction. Join me in my thought process as I derive my final answer.
FTP is an outdated, unsecure protocol that nevertheless remains in widespread use.
Written by Thomas M. Stockwell
Editor's Note: This article introduces "Beyond FTP: Securing and Managing File Transfers," a free white paper that you can download from the MC White Paper Center.
Every day, millions of files are exchanged all over the world by corporations, government entities, and other organizations. These electronic transfers include the critical data needed to conduct business, such as customer and order information, EDI documents, financial data, payment information, as well as employee- and health-related information.
In my travels, I've had the privilege of meeting many, very interesting people. I was recently in Napa Valley, CA and ran into a woman whose specialty is fraud prevention. Wow - her stories were amazing! The cunning and the lengths people go to to commit fraud are mind-boggling - like knowing the laws and regs well enough to be able to skim money just below the limit where, what she was taking wouldn't be noticed unless someone looked very closely.
The reason I bring this up is because the occurence of fraud continues to rise. So my question to you is this - When was the last time you went through your processes and procedures to make sure there are enough checks and balances in place to make sure you're not experiencing fraud in your workplace? For those of you that chafe under processes and procedures, this is a reminder that they're in place for a reason.
I am reminded of one of Ronald Reagan's favorite phrases ... trust, but verify. I encourage you to do the same.
Written by Carol Woodbury
Written by Thomas M. Stockwell