Secure storage of data
The video clip above is a 30 second excerpt from a cartoon video of 1:30 minute duration.
With the EU Personal Data Regulation (GDPR), it has become even more important to focus on how and where data is stored. This short video cartoon explains the main issues with data storage – easy and straightforward to understand.
Focus on safe ways to save critical data
Information security is not only about safety against hackers and IT criminals. It is also about where and how we store the materials we work with: data, information and documents.
How are we supposed to be saving which type of documents – and where?
The answer is clear: Critical data and confidential information must be stored on the secure servers. What employees often don’t realise is that most of the data they are working with can be labelled with the term ‘critical data’.
Secure clouds – or not
Google Apps, Dropbox, Facebook and other services offer a range of methods and systems for storing materials safely “in the cloud”.
As a private person, it may be okay for you to save your private data in the cloud, however, as an employee, you will often be working with confidential material that needs to be stored securely, which means that it must either be stored on local, secure servers or on servers in the cloud where your workplace guarantees their security.
The ‘cloud’ is not necessarily safe
We must do everything we can to avoid fraudsters and hackers from grabbing our confidential documents, as it can cause serious harm to ourselves as well as to those to whom the information is about. Therefore, always save your work-related documents and data on secure servers.
Saving it on your own PC, whether on the desktop or on an external drive, as well as saving it on mobile devices all represents a risk.
The computer you saved it on may be stolen or damaged, and then the data can fall into the wrong hands or be unretrievable.
The same goes for saving data, information and documents on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, memory cards and USB connectors: They may disappear, in which case you – and in worst case your entire organisation – will be in trouble.
Therefore: Critical data and confidential information must be stored on the secure servers. Regular backups are made on these serves to ensure that important documents will not disappear.
Important: Follow rules and guidelines
Keep in mind that it is not to annoy you or hinder your efficiency if your organisation has created a set of rules and guidelines about data storage and IT security. Your organisation’s IT team has knowledge and insight into these matters, and it is important we all comply with their advice and guidelines.
Weakest link in security chain
Your organisation may have invested heavily in security tools to keep its data safe behind encrypted fire-walls, but if the employees in the organisation are as unaware as people are in general about the threats from IT criminals, then the most severe and costly security crisis your organisation has ever faced could happen because of a simple mistake by an employee.
Information leaks can be costly
When documents containing confidential information are leaked or stolen, the organisation could suffer massive damage.
The bill for mismanagement of confidential data can quickly run up in millions of dollars. Whenever confidential information is leaked or stolen, the organisation stands to lose customers or partners as well as losing business opportunities and its general reputation as a trusted partner.
Companies and organisation often work with hundreds of sensitive documents and private data on a day-to-day basis. From strategic plans to internal business practices to information about bank accounts and customers’ private information.
Behind the organisation’s firewalls, the information can appear to be in safe hands, but in reality the organisation has very little control over the way confidential information is handled by its employees.
This is the reason awareness training in how to handle confidential information is utmost important to any organisation.
Humorous cartoon series: BIG money at stake
The film is part of ‘Humour against hacking’ – an effective awareness campaign for employees, which can be used in all types of companies and organisations in order to prevent becoming victim of an IT crime.
‘Humour against hacking’ inspires and teaches employees how they can help secure the organisation against attacks.
Employee awareness is key to prevent becoming a victim of IT crime
Nine effective and humous training cartoons to increase employee awareness plus new cartoons and other information two or three times a year as new topics become relevant.
The Humour Against Hacking campaign for your employees includes videos, quizzes, promotional material, campaign content and guide.