Several newspapers recently carried the story of an outside firm doing background checks for the Nevada Department of Public safety lost the personal data of over one hundred applicants. It seems that an employee of the firm had the data on a thumb drive and lost the device.
“Thumb drive” is the name given to little memory devices that hold a lot of data and plug into a USB port on your computer. They’re sometimes called “keychain drives” or “flash drives.” Thumb drives are about the size of your index finger and can hold up to 16 gigabytes of data.
Thumb drives have become popular devices for transporting data or transferring them from one computer to another. A worker from the Nevada company there probably put sensitive files on the thumb drive and slipped it into a pocket or purse.
The very convenience that lets you slip a thumb drive into your pocket makes it a security risk. That’s because it can easily slip out without you noticing.
You owe it to applicants and employees to keep their information safe. Most of the time that will mean keeping it on a secure computer with limited access. If you’re using a thumb drive, or any portable media, to store sensitive information, make sure the data is encrypted.
If you’re using a thumb drive to transport data the encryption rule holds but you also need to keep the device secure. There are three common ways that users do this.
Some users carry their thumb drive on a key chain or on a cord around their neck. Others have a specific place in their briefcase for all portable media including thumb drives and CDs.
Then there are the people who slip the thumb drive into a closable pocket attached to a file folder. They figure it’s harder to lose a file folder than a tiny drive, plus they can put notes on and in the file folder.
If you have sensitive information about employees or applicants, it’s your job to keep the information safe. If you’re storing that information on any computer or storage drive, you need to keep that safe, too.