TechnoEsq is proud to introduce Ron Schmittling as a contributing author to our blog. Ron is the Security & Privacy practice leader for Brown Smith Wallace in St. Louis, MO. He and his team specialize in all aspects of information security, payment card compliance, data privacy, and computer forensics. He can be contacted at 314.983.1398 or rschmittling@bswllc.com for all of your information security needs and questions. Without further ado, we’ll turn this post over to Ron.
Fraud will never happen at your company, right? You have passwords, antivirus software, even a dedicated IT staff that manages this portion of your business — so you’re not worried. But you should be. This not-at-my-company approach to securing your information systems is downright dangerous. Every organization has critical or sensitive information, whether financial information, trade secrets, intellectual property or confidential employee data. This accessible digital information is stored electronically, leaving it vulnerable to hackers, viruses and even your own employees.
Business Protection
First, there are a lot of myths surrounding information security, such as: ‘We are a simple company and not very high-tech,’ or ‘I trust my IT group to know what needs to be done,’ or ‘My outsourced provider takes care of that stuff.’ Most companies are not as secure as they think they are. At the other end of the spectrum are companies that look for security products rather than developing a process. They purchase software, layering several programs with the mindset that more is better. But without a well-defined system, these companies could actually create more security ‘holes.’ For all these reasons, managers should develop a process for securing data. After all, information is the lifeblood of any business. Therefore, securing that information is a management responsibility and not just another job for the IT department.
Security and its effect on the bottom line
Many companies fail to understand how information security will help their profit margins because security is not tangible. It isn’t tied in neatly to the linear cost and profit concept. But, in fact, security affects businesses in ways they never expected. Business activity can be disrupted, resulting in lost time and angry customers. Privacy can be violated, which will erode customer trust and lead to lawsuits. Reputations can be damaged, spoiling future opportunities. On a more direct level, financial information that is not secure puts companies at serious risk for fraud or espionage.
How can I manage security for my business?
Start by defining what systems you currently have in place. Next, implement user-access controls like user IDs and passwords, user agreements and acceptable-use policies. Finally, monitor the compliance of your plan. How is it working? You may enlist a third party to run penetration and vulnerability tests, essentially checking how easy it is to break into your system without actually breaching your security.
Your system won’t be put into place overnight — but you should set goals and work toward constantly improving your security. No business can afford to ignore it.
Phoenix Technologies has put out a press release announcing Fujitsu laptop hard-drives which will feature their new FailSafe system. This new system seeks to address many attorneys and other professionals main concern, a lost laptop with confidential client information still on it. While the loss of a laptop computer is hard to swallow, the loss of such client data can bring even greater problems.
But if you aren’t concerned about confidentiality, 
