According to a report on Identity Theft Resource Center, astounding volumes of critical data records were breached in 2009 – a trend that has been growing since 2005. A report by idtheftcenter.org states that the business sector is one of the most affected with a recorded data breach growth of 41% from 21% between 2006 to 2009 (publicly reported breaches). The report states that while there are some minor statistical differences in the other sectors, data breaches in the business sector continue to increase for the fifth year in a row. The financial and medical sectors, probably due to the growing stringent regulations, maintain the lowest percentage of critical data breaches.

“High-profile data breaches underscored the importance of data loss prevention technologies and strategies,” says Oliver Friedrichs, director of security response at Symantec Corp. “Most breaches are due to physical loss of equipment. Theft or loss of computer or other data storage medium made up 46 percent of all data breaches.”

“The biggest risk for the company is the reputation damage they will be exposed to”, says IT security expert Dr Prof. Sachar Paulus. “Consumers tend to move to service providers that handle their interests with care, and especially their data. On the long run, only companies will survive that adequately protect customer data, especially consumer data.”

In addition to the potential loss of customer confidence and loss of reputation, many organizations now need to comply with multi-level data security regulations such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, GLBA and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council security guidelines. Adherence is especially necessary when mobile systems such as laptops carry sensitive payment card, healthcare, or financial data. In fact new state privacy laws such as Massachusetts’ new data law, 201 CMR 17.00, specifically require the use of laptop encryption.

What encryption software do you chose?

Here are a few solution options that companies should consider when going in for an encryption solution.

Full Disk Encryption: Companies ideally require an integrated encryption

solution that seamlessly integrates with file and folder, messaging, and digital signature encryption technologies to provide a holistic solution. Hard drive encryption alone cannot guarantee the integrity of data transmitted across computers.

File/Folder Encryption: For companies that need to encrypt specific resources on systems, leveraging user, group, and role information to create policies for data protection, this solution would be the best choice. Ideally such a solution should offer the highest level of data protection for sensitive and confidential data – not only locally and on network drives, but also during transfer from PC to file server. Its authorization system should separate the functions of system administration, security management, and users, thus protecting sensitive data from even system administrators. To achieve this, users should be securely authenticated with certificates using soft tokens, smart cards, or USB tokens.

External Media Encryption: Companies’ sensitive data on laptops, PCs and external mass storage devices can also be protected with external media encryption. This solution should ideally create an encrypted area on the users’ hard drive or external mass storage device to protect data from unauthorized access in case of loss or theft. Data copied into this encrypted area should be automatically encrypted. Accessing the encrypted area would require prior password authentication.

Endpoint Device Management: An endpoint device management solution would ensure that no one can bypass a company’s firewall and walk away with sensitive information on a USB stick or an external hard disk drive. It would also ensure that the company’s data will not be endangered through viruses or trojans brought in on external devices such as USB sticks. The solution would guarantee that only authorized storage media that comply with company policies can be used and that only specifically authorized employees will be able to use external devices.

For further information about full disk encryption and other endpoint and data-in-transit encryption solutions, get in touch with an expert now! For further details, please visit www.secude.com.