Becoming Safe Information Stewards

By now we have all read news stories about sensitive information breaches, including those at other universities in Ohio. Experts suggest that hackers have shifted their attacks from banks to universities to gather personal information because they are easier to break into.

Unfortunately, these breaches not only bring unwanted publicity to these institutions but they also can lead to unexpected consequences including technology costs and legal damages. We need to be enthusiastic and vigilant to prevent information exposures from occurring at BGSU.

Accepting the responsibility of safe data handling is not only the most effective solution to avoid exposures but also the right thing to do for all the right reasons, no matter what it takes.

The importance of safe data handling cannot be overemphasized. BGSU is constantly entrusted to safely handle and process data regarding students, alumni, human resources, research and third party affiliates. We need to lead and set an example in our protection efforts.

The good news is that BGSU has initiated protection solutions. The CELO project will add layers of data protection regarding information technology and will be a useful tool to sensitive data handlers. So what else should we be doing?

The ITS Security & Privacy Web site has created a new section named Info Stewardship. The goal is to provide best practice information to all BGSU data handlers about security, risk management, compliance, training, news topics and links to regulation information. The awareness materials will range from beginning to more advanced topics for effectiveness. The focus is to provide important decision tools for sensitive information handlers, regardless of prior technology knowledge.

Please accept the challenge to improve your knowledge about safe information stewardship. We also encourage your comments, criticisms, feedback and suggested topics to be included in the Web site by emailing infosec@bgsu.edu.

Please visit:
www.bgsu.edu/infosec under the section “BGSU Info Stewardship.”