A new survey reveals that nearly half of government workers have taken sensitive data files home in the past six months to keep up with their work.
A new round of publicity about the problem was sparked recently when a Veterans Administration employee took home a laptop that contained personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans. The laptop was stolen, placing an unprecedented quantity of data at risk.
The theft has sent government agencies a chilling message about the need to take new data security measures to prevent confidential data from walking out the door.
Unfortunately, new research confirms there’s good reason for government officials and the public at large to be concerned. A recent survey in a magazine for government computer workers found that 46% of respondents have taken government data files home in the past six months.
That data is moved or carried through a variety of means. The most frequent methods survey respondents reported were the following:
Laptop computer: 54%
Security analysts say the most important lesson, for government agencies and private businesses alike, is to enforce existing policies around moving sensitive information. The VA had a policy strictly limiting the practice, but hearings have shown that a lax culture led agency employees to ignore it at will, which in turn led to the disastrous loss.
Generally speaking, sensitive customer data should only go home with employees when it is encrypted and a manager signs off on the idea.
© National Security Institute, Inc.