In this fast-paced era of IT technology, data security and data breach prevention should be at the top of every company’s priority list. Protecting and properly disposing of data should be a big part of business operations and costs. As technology continues to evolve by the minute, so do the problems of insuring the safety of any sensitive data for companies in all industries.
Compliance can be a complicated, time-consuming and disruptive process resulting in ongoing costs to business with invasive audits and continuous compliance assessments. Any solution should minimize the impact of managing data privacy and system integrity over time and across multiple domains and boundaries.
To determine whether your business meets IT security compliance standards, you should be answering a definitive yes to the following questions:
1. Have you built and maintained a secure network?
2. Can you produce a document in an audit to prove that the data was protected or destroyed?
3. Is proper data protection in place throughout every devices’ lifecycle?
4. Does your procedure or policy include a secure hard drive lock box or area for idle and end-of-life assets containing data? Does this address mobile devices, smart phone tablets and memory sticks?
5. Do you have an end of life data security policy in place?
6. Are you addressing the data residing on the equipment coming off lease and restricting live data from leaving the building? Are you using a proven site data destruction method, such as erasure, shredding or degaussing, conducted by a reputable company?
7. Are you maintaining a comprehensive compliance policy for all government regulations?
8. Do you have data protection beyond the firewall? Do you meet or exceed regulation requirements for all data handling, protection and destruction?
9. Have strong access control measures been instituted?
10. Are you restricting access to client data on a business need-to-know basis? Have the physical access restrictions been positioned where unused assets containing data are stored?
11. Is a proper information security policy being maintained?
12. Do you have a clearly defined policy that addresses data security from the desktop to the grave? Are you receiving a certificate of data destruction and chain-of-custody document for any transfer of assets?
Remember, fulfilling these security measures is only part of the solution. Guardian Data Destruction can help you become compliant in all these ways, as well as fortify the security solution with proper management and protection of the backend of the data life cycle.
Questions about you can start answering yes to all these questions? Contact us today about our mobile on-site IT lab at 888-556-WIPE (9473) or visit www.guardiandatadestruction.com.
