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As I mentioned two weeks ago, a recent survey indicates that more than half of large companies have limited knowledge of which systems or applications their employees have access to. This marks a system access problem, and a growing risk during a period of frequent and large layoffs. If a company needs to turn off access manually (which is often the case), it may miss several user accounts that they don't realize exist. This leaves the door open for past employees, and others, to access important data, including financial information and customer information. To learn more about these open-door system risks, I asked Courion vice president Kurt Johnson about his firm's research.

Internet companies came under fire on Capitol Hill on Thursday, with lawmakers questioning how well the companies protect information that they collect online about consumers for advertising purposes. "I think it's a big deal if someone tracks where you go and what you look at without your personal approval. We wouldn't like that in the non-Internet world and I personally don't like it in the Internet world," said Rep. Joe Barton (R., Texas). Lawmakers in the House are drafting Internet-privacy legislation designed to provide consumers more information about what is being collected online and to give them greater control about how that data can be used. It could also set rules for how consumers could prevent their personal data from being shared with advertisers. "Consumers are entitled to some baseline protections in the online space," said Rep. Rick Boucher (D., Va.) chairman of the House Internet subcommittee.

"Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Chair, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities With many committees and subcommittees having oversight over government cybersecurity, Rep. Loretta Sanchez thinks it would be a good idea to gather them together to map out steps Congress can take to help secure government IT."

US Government agencies collaborate to help secure information assets & protect our infrastructure and citizens? What an idea!

"On October 6, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") announced proposed settlement agreements with six companies over charges that they falsely claimed membership in the U.S. Department of Commerce Safe Harbor program. In six separate complaints, the FTC alleged that ExpatEdge Partners LLC, Onyx Graphics, Inc., Directors Desk LLC, Collectify LLC, and Progressive Gaitways LLC deceived consumers by representing that they maintained current certifications to the Safe Harbor program when such certifications had previously lapsed. The terms of the proposed settlement agreements prohibit the companies from misrepresenting their membership in any privacy, security or other compliance program. The six enforcement actions are significant as they mark a considerable uptick in the FTC's enforcement related to the Safe Harbor program. The FTC recently brought its first enforcement action relevant to the program, which is detailed in our post titled FTC's First Safe Harbor Enforcement Action. The European Union Data Protection Directive requires EU Member States to implement legislation that prohibits the transfer of personal data outside the EU unless the EU has made a determination that the laws of the recipient jurisdiction are substantially equivalent to those of the EU, and thus provide "adequate" protection for personal data. Because the EU has determined that laws of the United States do not meet its adequacy standard, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the EU developed the Safe Harbor Framework, which went into effect in November 2000. The Safe Harbor Program allows participating U.S. companies under the jurisdiction of the FTC or the U.S. Department of Transportation to transfer personal data lawfully from the EU. To join the Safe Harbor, a company must self-certify to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it complies with seven principles that have been deemed to meet the EU's adequacy standard. To maintain its certification to the Safe Harbor

Former Booz Allen Hamilton management consultant Melissa Hathaway's much anticipated 60-day review of U.S. cybersecurity policy is scheduled to hit President Obama's desk this Friday. All eyes of the tech security community will be watching. It will signal what approach Obama will take in the complicated task of stemming cyber threats. Obama has said he will make the Internet safer for citizens and businesses, while playing catchup to China and Russia who are far ahead in the cyberwarfare arms race. "We're trying to do cybersecurity in a democracy," says Leslie Harris, President and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology. "Doing cybersecurity in China, my guess, is a lot easier." CDT held a press briefing this morning at which it warned that a cybersecurity bill, introduced earlier this month by Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, is the first of several that likely will be proposed once Hathaway's review is out. Harris said CDT agrees with a provision in the Rockefeller-Snowe bill that would create a cabinet-level cybersecurity adviser reporting directly to President Obama, but questions some of the extraordinary federal enforcement powers that could be created. CDT says it doesn't want citizens' civil liberties trampled upon. CDT general counsel Greg Nojeim gave Hathaway high marks for keeping her review process relatively open, in contrast to the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy. "So far the White House review team gets high grades on transparency," Nojeim said. Hathaway has held closed briefings in the past several weeks with Congressional committees, industry groups and privacy organizations, said Nojeim. "But the real test will be whether their recommendations reflect a commitment to transparency in the execution of the program," said Nojeim.

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In a world of increasingly savvy and inter-connected customers, an organization's approach to information privacy may offer precisely the competitive advantage needed to succeed. Privacy is essential to creating an environment that fosters trusting, long-term relationships with existing customers, while attracting opportunity and facilitating the development of new ones. Spend the morning with me and nine privacy leaders from major corporations: Intel; IBM; Sun Microsystems, Inc.; Microsoft; Facebook; HP; Privacy Analytics Inc.; Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation; Peratech Limited; and GS1 Canada as they present their latest innovations in Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs). You will appreciate how "Privacy by Design" - embedding PETs into the architecture of new systems - protects privacy, without compromising performance or security - a positive-sum not zero-sum outcome.

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An eBay Inc. effort to broaden communication through the popular Twitter Web-messaging service highlights the hurdles facing corporate users of online social media. The growing Twitter audience also attracted the attention of eBay's lawyers, who last month required Mr. Brewer-Hay to include regulatory disclaimers with certain posts. Some followers think the tougher oversight is squelching Mr. Brewer-Hay's spontaneous, informal style. His experience shows the tension that can arise as more companies tap social media to reach investors, customers and others. Eighty-one Fortune 500 companies sponsor public blogs, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Chevron Corp. and General Motors Corp., according to the Society for New Communications Research. Of those blogs, 23 link to corporate Twitter accounts. On Thursday, a Johnson & Johnson executive reported for the first time on the health-care giant's annual meeting via Twitter, which allows users to post "tweets" of as many as 140 characters via text messages and the Web. Such efforts raise thorny questions. Blogs and tweets can run afoul of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations on corporate communications. But sanitizing such posts risks hurting credibility with online audiences. The online auctioneer launched a corporate blog in April 2008. Two months later, blogger Richard Brewer-Hay began "tweeting" -- posting updates on Twitter -- about Silicon Valley technology conferences, eBay's quarterly earnings calls and other topics.

Rarely is the response to a new government initiative a unanimous round of "thumbs up," but so far that seems to be the case regarding yesterday's (April 9) announcement that The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs will collaborate on building an electronic database of administrative and medical information for U.S. servicemen and women. Since developing a broad electronic health records (EHRs) initiative is a prominent feature of the Obama Administration's economic stimulus plan, it makes sense to start (or at least focus) on a defined segment of the population -- current and past military personnel. But, apart from the specific technology, architecture and technical administration aspects of this program, there will be other challenges in pursuing the goal of EHRs for the military -- challenges that insurance technology executives know only too well. These include collaboration among different and sometimes competing interests (in this case, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which historically have not worked together as closely as one might imagine); and concerns about privacy and security. In fact, the ways in which the military EHRs initiative addresses the privacy issue could provide some interesting best practices (or actions to avoid) for private-sector players. "Currently, there is no comprehensive system in place that allows for a streamlined transition of health records between DOD and the VA," President Barack Obama said at yesterday's announcement, "and that results in extraordinary hardship for an awful lot of veterans who end up finding their records lost, unable to get their benefits processed in a timely fashion. And that's why I'm asking both departments to work together to define and build a seamless system of integration with a simple goal: When a member of the Armed Forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a DOD

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IT and business both understand the need to protect regulated customer and business data -- so long as they're in business, analysts say. Here's a look at how some folding businesses are falling short protecting data and the possible liabilities for the IT group and CIO. From HIPPA to Sarbox, a slew of regulations to protect customer and employee data force CIOs to step lively to comply. The punishment for failure to do so is costly and even dire. But once a company folds-and more are folding every week given the economy-what happens to that data? Who in the business and IT could be hit by the splatter if it all hits the fan? "Certain companies have been disposing of records containing sensitive consumer information in very questionable ways, including by leaving in bags at the curb, tossing it in public dumpsters, leaving it in vacant properties and/or leaving it behind in the offices and other facilities once they've gone out of business and left those offices," says Jacqueline Klosek, a senior counsel in Goodwin Procter's Business Law Department and a member of its Intellectual Property Group. "In addition, company computers, often containing personal data, will find their ways to the auction block," she adds. "All too often, the discarded documents and computer files will sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers and driver's licenses numbers. This is the just the kind of data that can be used to commit identity theft." Discarded and unguarded data is now low-hanging fruit for criminal harvesters and corporate spies. "Recent client activity supports that competitors are beginning to buy up such auction devices specifically with the intention of trying to salvage the data," says James DeLuccia, author of IT Compliance & Controls. "Hard drives are being removed and sold online, or whole servers are sold via Craigslist and Ebay." In some cases, the courts insist data be sold during a bankruptcy. "Company servers, once I restore

Bank of America will pay Connecticut $350,000 as part of a settlement for a data breach by Countrywide Financial Corp., which the bank acquired last year, state officials said Thursday. The bank will also provide at least $25,000 to reimburse Connecticut residents forced to pay for freezing and unfreezing their credit reports because of the breach, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. The major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, charge about $10 to freeze and unfreeze credit reports. Affected consumers will receive about $60 for credit freezes and unfreezes for all three credit bureaus, Blumenthal said. Nearly 30,000 state residents were affected by the nationwide breach, which came to light last August after the FBI arrested a former Countrywide employee on charges of selling personal information, including Social Security numbers, for as many as 2 million loan applicants. To be reimbursed, consumers must send proof of payment for their credit freezes and unfreezes to Blumenthal's office, 110 Sherman St., Hartford, CT 06105, attn: Countrywide Credit Freeze.

The Veterans Affairs Department has agreed to pay up to $20 million to veterans for exposing them to possible identity theft in 2006 after losing their sensitive personal information. In court filings Tuesday, lawyers for the VA and the veterans said they had reached agreement to settle the veterans' lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy. The money will be used to pay for veterans who suffered actual harm, such as emotional distress or expenses incurred for credit monitoring. The lawsuit came after a VA data analyst in 2006 admitted that he had lost a laptop and external drive containing the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of up to 26.5 million veterans and active-duty troops. The laptop was later recovered intact.

In honor of this day, the California Office of Privacy Protection--the first governmental privacy office in the nation--has created a presentation which you can download from their Web site at www.privacy.ca.gov. It's called "Secure Your Computer to Protect Your Privacy," and it explains why computer owners should use Internet firewalls, install and maintain anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and keep their operating systems and applications up to date to protect themselves from malicious attacks. The state privacy office offers lots of other information on how Californians can protect themselves and their data. You can visit their Web site, call them toll-free at (866) 785-9663, or go Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to the main San Francisco Public Library, where Joanne McNabb, the state's privacy chief, is scheduled to appear on a panel with representatives from Microsoft, Intel, the Center for Democracy and Technology, MySpace and Teen Angels. The panel is free and is part of an international effort to raise awareness about privacy practices and privacy rights

The Data Protection Directive is old-fashioned and out of date, a report published by the UK's privacy regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said. Commissioner Richard Thomas said that the European Union must change its legislation. The ICO commissioned RAND Europe to investigate whether or not 1995's EU Data Protection Directive was a good basis for Europe-wide data protection law. The research concluded that the law was flawed and needed to be updated. It found that the law must be clearer about what it seeks to achieve, that it should be better at forcing organisations to protect personal data in their charge, that it should encourage a more strategic approach to enforcement and that it does not deal well enough with the export of personal data outside the EU. Thomas said that the Directive, on which the UK's Data Protection Act is based, is outmoded. "The Directive is showing its age. Modern approaches to regulation mean that laws must concentrate on the real risks that people face in the modern world, must avoid unnecessary burdens, and must work well in practice," he said. "Organisations must embed privacy by design and data protection must become a top level corporate governance issue." RAND said that the Directive would be improved by its fundamental approach to ensuring data privacy being changed. It said that the law should focus on the protection of individuals and the security of their data, and not on the processes that lead to that. "The stronger, results oriented approach described in this report aims to protect data subjects against personal harm resulting from the unlawful processing of any data, rather than making personal data the building block of data protection regulations," said the report. "It would move away from a regulatory framework that measures the adequacy of data processing by measuring compliance with certain formalities, towards a framework that instead requires certain fundamental principles to be respected

IT practices such as identity management, email and URL filtering, virus scanning and electronic monitoring of employees can get companies that do business globally into a heap of trouble if deployed without an understanding of global data privacy laws. The warning was one of several alarms raised in a presentation on global privacy best practices by Gartner Inc. analysts Arabella Hallawell and Carsten Casper at the recent Gartner Risk Management and Compliance Summit in Chicago. Always a thorny issue, the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) is made more complicated in a world where there is limited agreement on how best to do that. According to the Gartner analysts, the world is divided into three parts when it comes to data privacy laws: countries with strong, moderate or inadequate legislation. The European Union, under the European Union Directive on Data Protection, possesses the strongest privacy regulations, followed by Canada and Argentina; Australia, Japan and South Africa have moderate to strong, recent legislation; laws in China, India and the Philippines are the least effective or laxly enforced. The United States has the dubious distinction of occupying two categories -- the strong column, due to the 45 state breach notification laws on the books, and the weak column, because of the lack of a federal law. Even among the three categories, nuances abound. Under the European Union Directive, member countries enact their own principles into legislation, and some laws (like Italy's) are more stringent than the directive's standards. Russia's very recent law is modeled after the strong EU laws, but how it will be enforced remains questionable. And in the U.S., state breach notification laws vary, with Nevada and Massachusetts proposing the most prescriptive data privacy legislation to date.

The U.S. Department of Justice's indictment of Albert Gonzalez on Monday seems to have all the elements of a Hollywood crime drama: A hacker gains access to millions of credit and debit card numbers and has the power to take down a nation. Too bad for Tinseltown, the attack itself was about as sexy and a pile of routers. According to the indictment, Gonzalez, 28, gained a foothold into the systems of credit card processors such as Heartland Payment Systems ( HPY - news - people ) and retailers like OfficeMax ( OMX - news - people ), Barnes & Noble ( BKS - news - people ) and TJX Cos. ( TJX - news - people ) using an amateur hacking technique called "wardriving," which uses wireless access points to find vulnerable networks from which to launch attacks. Once connected to those private networks, Gonzalez used a well-known technique called "SQL injection" to trick Web applications into forking over private information that gave him deeper access into networks. Even though it sounds complicated, techies liken this kind of hack to simply turning the front doorknob to get into a house.

Cornell University officials are investigating the theft of a school computer that may have compromised the personal information of about 45,000 current and former students, faculty and staff. University spokesman Simeon Moss says the university has sent e-mails about the incident to everyone whose data was on the computer. They're being offered one year of free credit reporting, credit monitoring and identity restoration services. A Cornell Web page on the theft says there have been no known misuses of the data, which include Social Security numbers. The page says the laptop was in the possession of a Cornell technician who was doing some troubleshooting. Moss says police are investigating the theft.

A Troy woman learned Tuesday that she will spend 180 days in the Livingston County Jail for stealing the identity of a local woman who was dying. Judge Stanley J. Latreille also sentenced Vershawn Jones, who earlier pleaded guilty to identity theft, to four years of probation. Assistant Prosecutor Pamela Maas said the victim, who was not in court Tuesday, wanted to know how Jones, 38, got his wife's identification. His wife, Maas noted, was dying in a Hospice facility at the time. Jones, who said she operated a mortgage business, said she got it from one of four employees who brought her applications from people seeking mortgages. Those applications included personal information, such as Social Security numbers, she said. When pressed for names, Jones glanced at her attorney and shrugged. "I apologize to the victim and the victim's family," she said. "I've done the best I can running my own business." Maas initially requested that the state be allowed to withdraw from the plea deal that called for her office to recommend Jones serve no more than 90 days in the county jail after noting Jones had twice been sent to jail for failing to show for court hearings. While Jones apologized, Latreille was unmoved, telling the defendant "you're fortunate you're not going to prison."

The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee told the chief executive of Heartland Payment Systems that she was "astonished" a breach the company's information system lasted for nearly 1½ years without being detected. At a panel hearing Monday on protecting industry against growing cyber threats, Sen. Susan Collins, R.-Maine, asked Heartland CEO Robert Carr to explain how this delay happened. Carr responded that a breach is usually detected when the processing payer is notified of fraudulent use of cards, and that didn't occur until the end of 2008. "Isn't there software in the systems to detect such a breach?" Collins asked.

67% of French Organisations Hit By One or More Data Breach Incidents Within Last Twelve Months Research from Ponemon Institute Reveals that only 9 Percent of Respondents have an Overall Encryption Plan or Strategy Applied Consistently across the Enterprise PARIS and MENLO PARK, Calif., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- PGP Corporation, a global leader in enterprise data protection, has announced the results of its inaugural annual study by The Ponemon Institute, identifying the steps French organisations are taking in order to safeguard their confidential data. The 2009 Annual Study: France Enterprise Encryption Trends study, which polled 414 IT security professionals at enterprises and public sector organisations, found that 67 percent of French organisations have been hit by at least one data breach incident within the last year, with 18 percent having been hit by more than five incidents. A massive 92 percent of the data breaches were never disclosed as there was no legal or regulatory requirement to do so. Despite the large number of data breach incidents, 71 percent responded that data protection was a 'very important' or 'important' part of their risk management strategy, with protecting sensitive or confidential information in motion (transfer) or at rest (storage) their top priority.

One of the things that always surprised me while working with corporate information over the years is the lack of a data classification program in the majority of firms. Working with many well-known corporations around the world, I get to see the inner-workings of how IT is practiced.

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