[ISN] Arm staff to keep bandits at bay

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/recruiter_forum/article4836584.ece

By Carly Chynoweth 
The Sunday Times
September 28, 2008

Firewalls, passwords and high-tech entry systems are all very well but 
they cannot stop someone from leaving documents on a train or lending 
their pass to a work-experience student. With all the attention being 
given to hacking, identity theft and computer-related security recently, 
it is easy to forget the key role that staff play in corporate security.

"People are beginning to realise that the data-security leakages we have 
read about in the press are never down to technology - they are always 
due to people screwing up," said Martin Smith, chairman and founder of 
The Security Company (International). "So many things have gone wrong; 
all of them could be solved with management and training."

One of the first steps that organisations should take, he advises, is to 
make sure staff understand the security implications of the decisions 
they make each day. This should help to minimise security breaches 
brought about by carelessness, such as holding sensitive conversations 
in public places or sending unencrypted private information through the 
post. "Most people want to follow the rules as long as you tell them 
what they are and what the consequences of breaking them will be - both 
for them and the company," said Smith.

He tries to get the message through by asking staff to protect business 
information as if it was their own personal secret. "I tell them to 
treat the documents they deal with at work as if they are letters from 
their boyfriend that they don.t want their husband to see," he said. In 
other words, do not leave them on a desk where an outsider visiting the 
building for a meeting might spot them. "And I tell them to treat their 
password like chewing gum - do not share it or stick it on your 
computer."

[...]


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