Pass the sunscreen and your sensitive data

As the number of vacationers taking their laptops and devices poolside increases, so do the risks to corporate data. These devices often contain confidential corporate information that could be seriously compromised if the devices were lost or stolen. This is a pertinent issue for corporations whose employees are accessing sensitive data while on vacation and may inadvertently leave the device behind. In order to truly ensure the security of confidential data — even when it is out of the office and going along for the family vacation — effective DLP strategies and policies need to be deployed.

Safend has devised the top-five tips for ensuring that your employees’ ‘connected vacations’ don’t equate to data leaks and corporate headaches.
These tips include:

• Written Data Security Policies: Effective policies governing access to confidential data is step one in making sure critical data remains in the office even when employees are poolside.
• Access Control: Put measures in place to know who is allowed to access what data — in the office or in Venice. For example, only allow files of a certain size and/or certain file types to be copied to thumb drives and other removable media, or only allow data to be copied to a specific device by serial number.
• Encrypt Everything: Once your files are flying with you to Mexico via your USB stick, encryption is essential to ensure that unauthorized parties can’t read them, even if your laptop or device gets lost in baggage claim.
• Secure Connections: Not every WiFi hot spot around the globe is equipped with the necessary security to ensure your data’s integrity. Restricting wireless port access helps avoid sensitive data from being pilfered while you sip your latte, awaiting a connecting flight.
• Necessities Only: Just like that extra swimsuit, do you really need your laptop, USB stick and flash drive? The best way to keep data safe is to only take what you absolutely need.