I just finished my 2006 income taxes this morning…something I absolutely HATE doing! I just hate all the forms and paperwork, all the time involved, and always keeping track of that important receipt for business software or hardware that somehow got lost or wedged in some deep dark corner of a drawer.
I’m not against taxes, per se; they are an important part of maintaining public services. But I hate how the tax laws change every year, all the odd new taxes for business owners each year, and how many strange new exemptions seem to always pop up every year, but primarily for the big organizations. I am a company of one for my information security, privacy and compliance business, and I am a company of two for my farm. Between the two there are what seems to be around a hundred different forms to fill out, and always different in little ways each year. So, I hate the time it takes to do taxes, but at the same time I am very thankful to be able to have businesses that otherwise allow me to do work I love.
Posts Tagged ‘Information Security’
Phishing for Taxpayers’ Personal Information
Saturday, March 17th, 2007Vulnerabilities of Transport Services & Privacy Incident Example: Wellpoint CD Containing PII of 75,000 People, Lost During UPS Transport, Found
Friday, March 16th, 2007A CD containing the clear text personal information of 75,000 WellPoint Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield New York members that was reported lost on February 9 while being transported by UPS has been found.
The CD was lost when one of Wellpoint’s outsourced vendors, Health Data Management Solutions, sent the CD via UPS to Magellan Behavioral Health Services.
What A Nice Surprise: I’m On the IT Security List of Top 59 IT Security Influencers!
Thursday, March 15th, 2007It was quite a wonderful surprise to read an email message this morning from IT Security telling me I was put on their list of top 59 IT security influencers for 2007.
Trying To Determine Actual Numbers of Privacy Breaches Since 1980; An Exercise in Futility?
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007Today a press release caught my eye, “Hackers get bum rap for corporate America’s digital delinquency.”
Hmm…sounds interesting. Let’s see what is behind this nicely-hooking title.
Preventing Data Leakage Through Email and Instant Messaging
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007Incidents continue to accumulate and hit the daily headlines. Many of them involve the loss of sensitive information through some type of messaging activity. The losses can have devastating impacts to business.
The messaging-related incidents are sometimes technology-based, such as social-engineering tactics through instant messaging (IM) communications, sometimes they pre-meditated malicious activities, and sometimes they are just plain ol’ “OOPS!! What the heck did I just do!!!!???” types of situations.
USA PATRIOT Act: FBI Is Underreporting Their Use Of This Law To Order Businesses to Monitor Email, Phone Calls and Financial Information
Friday, March 9th, 2007CNN reported today that a U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) audit finds the FBI is has not kept good track of how many times they have ordered businesses monitoring of emails, telephone records and financial information. The report has not yet been posted to the DoJ site but is supposed to be released sometime today.
According to the CNN report:
“Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business”: Free from the FTC
Thursday, March 8th, 2007Today the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a 24-page guide, “Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business”
Within the guide the FTC advises businesses to protect personally identifiable information (PII) through the following actions:
How Access Management Compliance Supports Good Business
Thursday, March 8th, 2007Many business leaders I speak with now have great concern for data protection law and regulation compliance, which is certainly prudent. However, often when digging into the details of their compliance plans and activities, I find most of the effort and budget is going towards initiatives for firewall and perimeter protection, with increasing implementations for encryption.
New Benchmark Research Report Released Today from IT Policy Compliance (ITPC): “Taking Action to Protect Sensitive Data”
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007Today IT Policy Compliance released a new benchmark research report, “Taking Action to Protect Sensitive Data.”
I had the great oppportunity to not only have a sneak peak at the report, but also to speak yesterday about the report with Jim Hurley, the Managing Director for IT Policy Compliance who authored the report, and Heriot Prentice, Director of Technology at The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) which is one of the sponsors for the IT Policy Compliance site.
