http://www.thehoya.com/node/15379 By Yoshi Myers The Hoya Feb 15 2008 University administrators are in the primary stages of creating a task force that will look into how to enhance information security after the suspected theft of an external hard drive six weeks ago potentially exposed the Social Security numbers of 38,000 students, alumni, faculty and staff. The 100-member task force will consist of University Information Services personnel and leaders from the universitys three campuses, along with those familiar with specific data in areas including finance, human resources, student information and research, the UIS release said. Additionally, the release stated that Senior Vice President Spiros Dimolitsas and David Lambert, vice president and chief information officer for University Information Services, will co-chair a steering committee to prioritize the focus and coordinate the organizational structure of the task force. The missing external hard drive, which was located on the fifth floor of the Leavey Center, contains the information of students, faculty and staff from 1998-2006, including 7,700 of students currently at Georgetown University and 25,000 of alumni. The hard drive, which was reported stolen on Jan. 3, had been used to back up a computer that contained billing information for student services including student health insurance and activities fees. University Spokesperson Julie Bataille said the task force will work on a plan that would limit the universitys usage and storage of confidential data. She said that the task force will also consider how to ensure that the information is appropriately protected when it is necessary to perform critical academic, business or research functions. ?The effort is designed to intensify the data security protections University Information Services was already implementing prior to the recent data security breach, Bataille said. She would not specify what security measures will be reinforced. Bataille said that in 1999, the university began implementing GOCard numbers and NetIDs as primary means of identification. In addition to implementing the task force proposal, University Information Services also plans to teach individuals how to secure data on laptops, personal digital assistants, USB keys and attached hard drives, Lambert said in the release. University Information Services also plans to advise university offices on purchasing secure laptops and change its data-storage procedures so that sensitive personal information exists on hosts rather than on individual hard drives. According to Bataille, Dimolitsas has released a list of information security responsibilities to university faculty and staff. Dimolitsas and Lambert could not be reached for comment. ___________________________________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn
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