Data Breach at Georgetown University

In what constitutes an inexcusable breach of trust and security, GU reported to its students and faculty that nearly 38,000 people have had their personal data exposed.
http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=31245

Apparently a sensitive hard disk was stolen - with the disk containing UNENCRYPTED information (SS numbers, names etc) of many thousands of students and faculty. I cannot imagine how such a prestigious institution could let such a thing happen.

Does security begin and stop with/at the ethernet cable?!!

Physical security is as important as network/digital security. For anyone to minimize the value or importance of one over the other is beyond ludicrous. GU is offering to pay for one year's worth of credit monitoring, but what about after that? The govt should mandate a MINIMUM of 5 years' worth of credit monitoring for each such incident, plus total insurance covering at least 5 times the total of the existing credit limit of all of the current credit cards owned by the affected people.

Further to that, the govt, which seems to have absolutely no take on such issues, needs to get off its lazy behind and do something meaningful, like legislating strong penalties for careless and negligent organizations.

I've repeated such thoughts ad nauseam and probably will continue to do so until such events become a thing of the past. At the rate things are going vis-a-vis data theft, it's going to be a VERY long time before we can stop worrying about such horrible incidents of violation of our trust and safety.

Be safe!

Two Articles to Read on Data Breach

http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=7370654&nav=menu32_2_11

and then

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqGfy6HNMsTyAGUesRe43dQCGsDgD8SV20PO2

And you'll get an idea of how much money is at stake for institutions and companies that deal in (and store) personal data, especially sensitive data.

Be safe!

Even More Privacy Issues

http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/54888.html?imw=Y

When you donate your old, pathetic, and mostly useless computer, keep one thing in mind: the disk. Forget everything else - just go after the data. Whitewash as much as possible. Many good software can accomplish the task painlessly, and they're worth the investment.

You simply do NOT want someone to have access to private data (SS numbers, medical records, employment details, financial data) etc. If they're a nice person as the one in the story above, you won't lose anything. However, if an ID thief buys up your computer from the local donation center, who knows what he can turn up? And imagine what he could do with it - a virtual goldmine of data begging to be (mis)used.

The main problem is (as it is everywhere else) lack of data awareness, and fear (even disdain) of technology itself. Luddites that may pride themselves on their 'simple' life have NO idea how vulnerable they are, every time they encounter technology that gets and/or dispenses private data.

You are SAFE if and only if:
1. You do not have an SS number
2. You do not exist
3. You are a wandering saint
4. You have NOTHING to lose - not even your identity

So, before you chuck that computer of yours for a tax write-off, download a good disk-cleaning software, and scrub as much as possible. Remember - deleting files or moving them to the Recycle Bin or emptying the RB has no effect. The data is simply marked to be overwritten but the data itself is still there - invisible, but there, and can be very easily read by someone sophisticated enough to know how to run the right tool.

Whitewashing a disk usually consists of writing garbage over and over again to the disk (or writing 0s) until there is nothing left to read.

Next time you donate a computer, whitewash the heck out of it. And when you buy a used computer, clean it the same way and then install a fresh OS on it. You don't want to see/read/hear someone else's secrets just as you don't want yours to be exposed.

Be safe!