Utimaco Shares Tips for Safeguarding Devices and Data Over the Summer

Vacations and Temporary Summer Employees Can Take their Toll on Data and Devices; Recommendations for Securing Your Vital Information

Foxboro, US/ Oberursel, Germany, September 2, 2008 / Utimaco – The Data Security Company, today announced that numerous organizations may have unknowingly placed senstive data at risk over recent months due to vacations and the hiring of seasonal workers – both of which can spell disaster for companies whose critical data is included on portable devices such as laptops and removable media.

Utimaco will be examining these – and many other IT security related issues – at the Forrester Security Forum 2008, taking place September 4-5, 2008 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston, MA. During the event, Utimaco executives will be on hand to discuss how organizations can best manage both external and internal risks as technology continues to advance.

Safeguarding Devices During Vacation
A recent study by a leading industry watchdog found that approximately 12,000 laptops are lost, go missing or are stolen each week in U.S. airports – many of these devices belong to vacationing workers who use their laptops for both business and personal use. When these laptops or any other device get into the wrong hands, the information stored on systems can easily be stolen unless the information is rigorously encrypted.

To avoid such risk, Utimaco reminds organizations that even a power-on password or other forms of single-factor authentication is of minor use in safeguarding against theft or loss. Enterprise customers and industry analysts alike credit the encrypting of data on all mobile computing devices as the preferred, proactive security measure as it makes data inaccessible to thieves and outsiders, and provides a more thorough level of protection.

Safeguarding the Temporary Workforce
Even with a significantly slowed business environment, CIOs face a number of challenges protecting ciritical data over the summer. For many organizations that hire temporary administrative workers to cover for vacationing full-time workers, the risks can be even greater. Threats from insiders—which include interns and other temporary personnel—are among the most insidious data threat scenarios. These temporary employees are often unaware of an organziation’s security policies and too often have access to sensitive data that can easily leak outside of the corporate perimeter.

CIOs must consider the range of assets that insiders can view or access, and then employ decisive measures – such as role based access and controls – to ensure sensitive data is only viewed by those permitted by senior management to have access to it. Utimaco recommends employing data leak prevention (DLP) technology to review data and flag it for sensitive keywords, fingerprinted documents or data structures and automatically enforce pre-determined data protection policies without needing IT administration.

“The protection of data is a vital component to business operations and security – two functions that are never allowed to vacation, regardless of the season,” said Malte Pollman, chief product officer, Utimaco. “Adopting a 360º approach to data security is the best practice to guard against external and internal threats, and to minimize the risk that vital data assets will be compromised. This approach involves evaluating the data use patterns within the organization and ensuring protection against data loss or theft at any stage in its lifecycle, whether at rest, in use or in motion.”

About Utimaco Safeware AG – The Data Security Company.
Celebrating 25 years in business, Utimaco is a leading global provider of data security solutions, enabling mid- to large-size organizations to safeguard their data assets against intentional or accidential data loss, and to comply with privacy laws. Utimaco’s complete range of data security solutions provide full 360 degree data protection for data at rest, data in motion and data in use. Utimaco offers its customers comprehensive on-site support via a world-wide network of certified partners and subsidiaries. Utimaco Safeware AG, with headquarters in Oberursel, near Frankfurt, Germany, is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN DE0007572406). For more information please visit www.utimaco.com.

Additional information:
Utimaco Safeware AG –
The Data Security Company.
http://www.utimaco.com
Deb Symons
Tel: +1 508-543-1008 x222
E-Mail: deb.symons@utimaco.com

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