Personal Injury Law

Inadvertent Disclosures - Part III - How can we make them secure?

By Steve Lombardi

Some security measures are as simple as physically destroying old hardware. (i.e., Like smashing a cd with a hammer or drilling holes in a hard drive.) Others require ongoing monitoring and secure admission procedures. Still other's touch on the human factors, like hiring the right people and then making sure they adhere to security measures, firm procedures and policies.

Good and effective security has to examine every aspect of the digital process and how your organization processes electronic information. From the hardware and software used, to the transmission itself, to the Internet sites visited, to the people that you employ and allow to use the firm's communication system.

If you are throwing computers out you might want to take a hammer or a drill bit to a hard drive.

If you are selecting a wireless system for your office the options are too numerous to discuss in this article.

If you use portable USB memory sticks they shouldn't be left where someone can take it and access it or you can lose it.

Using your various forms of digital communication at times just requires you to use common sense. It should be obvious that standing in a line of people while talking about a case on your cell phone is an obvious security breach.

Using your laptop with the screen clearly visible to the airline passenger sitting next to you is another breach that a secure privacy screen would probably control. We will discuss scrubbing digital documents below so I won't do more than mention it here.

The first defense against waiving the attorney-client privilege is to learn about the technology you've chosen. This includes both hardware and software. The next line of defense is to hire honest people and then properly train and monitor them.

The focus of this presentation is quite limited. Its intent is more to arouse your suspicions and lead you to investigate your own use and how your organization uses the technology. This presentation is your starting point. We can not possibly discuss how to make every form of digital communication secure in every organization. So take heed of this warning.

CELL PHONES - What is cell phone technology and is it reliably secure?

Digital cell phones are in a general sense pretty much reliably secure as a means of transmission. What usually isn't secure is the person using it. You can't stand in a crowd at a continued education program talking and have a secure conversation. You can't stand within ear shot of a microphone and believe your conversation is objectively or subjectively private. The user has to use common sense. And take heed of the subjective and objective aspect of privacy because it is what you'll need to explain should a breach occur with an intended private communication.

Tomorrow we will discuss metadata. And tomorrow night you won't sleep all that well.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on April 08, 2008 (boomark / email).