National Identity Fraud Prevention Week

This week is National Identity Fraud Prevention Week so with luck you will see items in the press about what you can do. The short answer is simple - guard sensitive and confidential information as if it were your own.

Remember, all information is of value to someone, so look after it and when you have finished with it, dispose of it properly. Shred old documentation, erase old disk drives, encrypt sensitive information that is leaving company premises (whether it is on a laptop, CD ROM or backup tape.)

Perhaps the best thing you can do is to get the CEO or Managing director to send an email out to everyone - reminding them about the risks and consequences of losing data. We shouldn’t need a week to remind us of the problems that data loss can create - this is something we need to think about everyday.

October 6, 2008 | Filed Under security | Leave a Comment 

Whaling And Wailing

The Chief Executive of HBOS has been a victim of fraud after a thief stole his identification details - probably from a bank statement. What does this show? Well, anyone can be targeted and everyone needs to be careful. Whaling is the practice of targeting the people at the top of an organization, OK so its usually done by phishing rather than theft - of course the rewards are still the same for the cyber-criminal, money, with the benefit that (hopefully) the man at the top has more than those further down.

What to do? It all comes down to one thing, protect those paper based items from the bin rustlers (or dumpster divers) by shredding them. It doesn’t take much to buy a cross-cut shredder and then it is just a case of getting into the habit of shredding anything and everything with names, addresses and important numbers (bank account details, credit card details, etc) as well as any of those very annoying ‘you have been pre-approved’ applications for credit cards. Put the shredder somewhere where you open the post or where you store old statements so you do it immediately.

It may sound daft, but you need an Information Protection policy for home (as well as at work), protecting both electronic and paper based information. It doesn’t have to long and complex - just a set of simple rules for you and your family. Go out and buy a cross-cut shredder today - you can even get one that will mash up old credit cards and CD ROMs!

August 21, 2008 | Filed Under Information Policy, data-loss | Leave a Comment 

You Are What The Internet Says You Are

So if it says that you are going away and all your belongings are up for grabs… then people are going to turn up at your house and take all your stuff, including a horse - without you even knowing. All sounds a little unbelievable? Well it happened this week in the US when a hoax advert was put onto Craigslist and people responded while the owner was out of work…

So what does this mean? Gullible people? People believe everything they read on the internet? We are at the start of a new era of fraud? All of the above? The internet can be seen as an interesting social experiment, with social networking and the influence it has right at the forefront. As we move into the next era of web based technologies and businesses it will become increasingly important to prove that you are who you say you are - and not what someone else says. It will all come down to reputation - protecting and maintaining your own reputation and the reputation of your company… before someone runs off with more than just your belongings.

March 28, 2008 | Filed Under Reputation | Leave a Comment