Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
information. for. your. clients. or. suppliers.. And. if. you. accept.
transactions.using.credit.cards,.all.of.that.credit.card.informa-
tion.must.be.protected.as.conidential..All.of.this.data.can.be.
and. most. often. are. stored. electronically. and. thus. require. a.
level.of.diligence.and.care.to.maintain.security..This.is.not.a.
topic.about.information.security.so.we.will.not.go.far.down.
that.path.
However,.it.is.important.to.understand.that.as.an.owner.
or.manager.of.an.organization,.a.legal.professional.or.even.
just.a.citizen,.we.control.conidential.data.that.must.be.pro-
tected.both.for.legal.reasons.and.just.for.the.sake.of.privacy.
and.the.security.of.our.assets.
Everyone.should.have.management.practices.in.place.to.
ensure. that. this. type. of. data. is. held. in. a. safe. and. secure.
method.and.with.good.security.practices..Some.of.the.most.
basic.of.these.practices.would.include
•. Strong.passwords.and.authentication.policies
•. Encryption
•. Good.monitoring.and.incident.response
•. Security-minded.development.of.new.applications
Now.there.are.other.data.that.might.be.considered.sensi-
tive.and.depending.on.the.importance.of.the.data.might.even.
be. treated. as. conidential.. For. example,. information. about.
critical.infrastructure.such.as.the.physical.or.logical.location.
of.control.systems.for.electric.or.other.power.grids,.or.water/
sewer.pumping.stations.
By.logical.I.am.referring.to.their.location.on.a.network.or.
on.the.Internet,.if.they.are.available.over.those.medium..More.
and.more.of.these.types.of.systems.are.moving.to.Internet.
access.because.of.the.convenience.and.eficiency.that.type.of.
access.brings.with.it.
Yet.that.type.of.information.in.the.wrong.hands.could.be.
very.dangerous..That.data.would.be.considered.at.least.sensi-
tive.and.possibly.should.be.guarded.and.secured.at.least.as.
carefully.as.other.conidential.information.
