In today's post, I want to remind everyone that the proper protection and disposal of printed information is equally important as the protections we place on information stored on electronic media.
In the past, business was conducted primarily with paper acting as the primary mechanism for information storage and processing. Businesses had "clean desk" policies and their file cabinets were locked up at night when they were not in use. Only the appropriate people had the file cabinet keys. Files and documents were taken and shredded when they were no longer needed.
As we all know too well, technology has forever changed the way businesses work, introducing automation, database processing, the Internet and all the benefits that go with these advancements. Protective controls have also evolved along with technology such as; system passwords, Role Based Access Control, file encryption, etc...
There has been a tremendous focus on the protective controls for electronic information but we have to remember that paper has not been completely replaced yet (if it ever will be). All the rules that made sense in the past still make sense today, but in some cases we have stopped practicing them. Agreed, it is much more damaging to a company to have a million pieces of information from a database be sent to a hackers website, however, you may be in a privacy breach situation if someone steals a folder of printed customer information containing SSN's, credit card numbers or account numbers. Even a report of employees and their personal information, that is lost or improperly disposed of, might also place you in a breach situation. The new laws are tough and they do not care if information was lost on a disk drive, backup tape or paper report. One thousand records lost on an unencrypted USB drive is just as bad as one thousand records lost through someone "Dumpster Diving" and finding last months discarded report.
Please remember to physically protect all reports, printed e-mails. photocopies of receipts and other paper materials. Lock them up and only access them when needed. Shred everything before throwing them away -or- place all paper into specially designated paper disposal bins (if your company has them - we do at Westfield). Many companies have worked out recycling arrangements so you can safely dispose of your paper and help the environment at the same time!
Protect information on paper as you protect information on electronic mediums. Don't think that it isn't important because it is on paper.
Comments