Boy oh boy, do we ever need a comprehensive federal data protection law in the U.S.! Each week more and more state level laws are introduced, many of them passed, all dealing with different aspects of data protection, and all impacting and complicating an information security and privacy professional’s responsibilities.
This past week was a busy one with a flurry of new and updated bills related to protecting privacy introduced, and a few new state laws.
Archive for May, 2007
Many New U.S. State and Federal Privacy Bills Introduced, and Some New State Data Protection Laws Signed
Monday, May 21st, 2007The Need to Build Security In: Poor Implementation of Indianapolis Public Schools Website Allows Viewing of PII For 7000+ Students and Teachers
Friday, May 18th, 2007Today Monsters and Critics reported, “Indianapolis Public Schools exposes thousands to risk of identity theft.”
Apparently the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) website “that allows teachers to post reviews, student-writing samples, grades, and other confidential material to the IPS network” was implemented and configured without much attention to security.
Does Using “Certified” Software Products Improve Compliance?
Thursday, May 17th, 2007It seems the term “certified” is being used more and more…for professionals, hardware, software, you name it.
You see software vendors touting that their products have been certified and that they will help companies meet “compliance,” but I have found very little research into what this really means, or if it means anything at all.
Know What You’re Buying…for Computer Service Contracts as Well as Security and Privacy Products
Wednesday, May 16th, 2007This morning I was watching Good Morning America (GMA) with my sons before they left for school. Noah said, “Hey, they’re talking about my computer!”
Information Security and Privacy Professionals Must Partner on Over 15…no wait…Over 20 Different Enterprise Issues
Wednesday, May 16th, 2007Not too long ago I blogged about the need for information security and privacy professionals to work together to address safeguarding sensitive and personally identifiable information (PII). Within it I talked about how a workshop Chris Grillo and I created and give, “Handling Complex and Difficult Privacy and Information Security Issues,” discusses over 15 common issues that these professionals need to partner on.
Great New Site for Data Loss Statistics
Tuesday, May 15th, 2007There is a great new site, etiolated.org, that takes the privacy breach data accumulated by attrition.org and parses it into some very interesting statistics, trends charts, provides areas for commentary, and lots of other interesting and useful information.
High School Cyber-Defense Competition: Mentoring Information Security Leaders of the Future
Tuesday, May 15th, 2007There is great opportunity to ensure future computer systems and applications are more securely engineered than they are now by teaching our children from a young age the importance of information security and privacy, and showing them what needs to be done. I often have fantastic conversations with my sons about information security and privacy issues; they always bring wonderful perspectives I never thought about.
Insider Threat Example: Engineer Leaks U.S. Military Secrets
Friday, May 11th, 2007There has been a lot of talk and blogging recently about whether or not there is a need for an information security industry/profession. Um sure, and there is no need for the physical security industry/profession either, is there?
As long as humans touch information in any way, electronically or physically, information security will be needed to provide them with policies, procedures, standards, guidance, training, ongoing awareness, and responding to and fixing the security messes and privacy breaches they cause.
