Companies Know About Data Security Problems, But Fail to Address Them
A newly published study of corporate data security policies has revealed that the majority of corporate technology executives have little knowledge of and control over sensitive data leaving their organization and have ignored the need for enhanced data security controls, even in the wake of large-scale data security breaches making national headlines.
Read the entire data security and privacy concerns article.
Checking job applicants' credit history, a common screening practice of many employers, has come under attack from state legislatures, private litigants and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In August 2010, Illinois enacted the Employee Credit Privacy Act, making it the fourth state to ban employers from inquiring about the credit histories of job applicants or employees, or obtaining copies of their credit reports. Three months later, Loudy Appolon, an applicant for employment at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, filed a class action lawsuit against the university after it informed her she would not be hired because of her credit history. Just last month, the EEOC sued Kaplan Higher Education over its use of credit histories in the hiring process.
The common thread binding all of these challenges to the consideration of credit records in the hiring process is the claim that this practice discriminates against African Americans, Hispanics and perhaps other protected groups.
Read the entire article about using credit checks in the hiring process.
Phil Repp, Vice President for Information Technology, Ball State University
Thanks to all for a great evening on the security roundtable!
I was struck by the shared opinions on social media and its link to information security practices. We seemed to agree that IT organizations can only do so much and the primary, and most critical, strategy is to educate the user of social media. Abuses of privacy and exposing personal information will end when people stop responding to phishing or other tricks that ask for personal information. Information security starts with a single individual.
There is a wealth of data on individuals out on the Internet – location, banking information, medications, heart rate data from your morning run, caloric consumption, personal ruminations, maybe even your shoe size! Before a user sends any or all of this kind data into the cloud, he or she should stop and think before they reveal – yes, even your shoe size. Watch what you click, make sure it is a secure site, and read the privacy policies first. How many people have read the privacy policies for Facebook or Twitter? Probably very few! Know that scams are everywhere, so be wary and vigilant.
Day 8 - Monday, September 14
We attended the opening ceremony of the Midwest U.S.–Japan Association Conference. Mitch Daniels is one of three U.S. governors who is attending this conference. Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin are in attendance as well. There are four Japanese governors participating.
Several members of the delegation were able to meet privately with a representative from Sony. He discussed that Sony's top issues right now are quality and the environment. He also discussed the increased need for universities and businesses to collaborate more; specifically pointing out excellent programs at Purdue and Rose-Hulman that would be of importance to Sony. This representative is happy with their Indiana connections and feels that Indiana strives to keep the costs of conducting business in the state low.
Overall, Japanese business leaders are looking to expand relationships throughout Asia and not rely so heavily on the U.S. and Europe The current economic conditions that the U.S. and Europe are facing have impacted Japan because of their market presence.
Over the weekend Governor Daniels announced that beginning in 2010 the Indiana State Fair will feature a different country each year. Japan will be the first country featured. Japanese exhibits will include performing arts, cuisine, interactive displays and educational opportunities.
Day 7 – Sunday, September 13
Today was the first opportunity the delegates had to do some sightseeing on their own. Some of the delegates visited Japanese shrines but I decided to do a bit of shopping in the "fashion capital of the world!"
The Ginza District of Japan features many of the world's best designer shops as well as smaller shops featuring hand painted stationery, paper, umbrellas and fans. The Japanese culture emphasizes order and cleanliness. For example, you must take your shoes off when entering a dressing room and put a cloth over your face to protect the clothes. On escalators, you hear instructions on which side to stand and reminders to hold small toddlers.
This emphasis on order and cleanliness even translates to their public restrooms. The toilet seats in public restrooms are heated and all the restrooms have bidets. Restrooms are easy to find and are on located on every floor. There is a special deodorizing spray and you hear a continuous flushing sound to protect your privacy.
In Japan you'll find that many stores have a lot of customer service representatives to assist you. In one small section of a department store I found 3-4 representatives designated to help customers in just that one section.
The Japanese stores tend to only carry three sizes: small, medium and large. In America, I usually wear an extra small but in Japan I'm a medium. Most of the Japanese women are very slender and all are about the same height. You'll find very little obesity among the Japanese.
Today's weather, beautiful, clear and in the mid-70s (similar to our Fall), gave me an opportunity to observe interesting aspects of the Japanese culture. Even in the summer many Japanese wear boots. As in China, pale skin is preferred and many of the women carry umbrellas. Japanese society is very disciplined. The city streets are clean and people don’t dress as casually as they do in the U.S. For example, you don't find many people wearing flip-flops.
Sunday Evening
In the evening we attended the gala reception for the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference in Tokyo. For nearly three decades, business leaders from the Midwest region of the U.S. and Japan have met on an annual basis to discuss the growth and progress of economic relations of the American Midwest and Japan. The Midwest U.S.-Japan Association is comprised of ten member states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin. Membership in the Japan-Midwest U.S. Association is comprised of corporations that have direct economic ties to Japan or are interested in developing them. The association has some 100 corporate members including Toyota Motors, Mitsui & Co., Saison Group, Sumitomo Chemical, Kajima Corporation, and Sony. The associations reinforce the economic, political and cultural ties that link the national economy of Japan with the regional economy of the Midwest.
Day 6 – Saturday, September 12
We traveled by bullet train to Tochigi Prefecture, Indiana's sister-state in Japan. The bullet train was very comfortable and is an extremely efficient mode of transportation for the Japanese. The train is low energy, low noise, seats a very high capacity of passengers and is easy to maintain. The Japanese culture emphasizes order and you see that in their transit system. Their average delay is less than one minute. Everything is on time and there are no last minute changes. Seventy-two percent of transportation is done on these bullet trains in Tokyo central and 56 percent in metro Japan.
When we arrived we attended a ceremony to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the sister-state agreement by planting a tulip tree, the official state tree of Indiana, in the central park of Tochigi. This park is beautiful with many fountains and tulip trees. The Japanese mentioned that the relationship between Tochigi and Indiana was fate. Tulip trees were planted in this park 15 years before we became sister states and they feel there is strong significance in the fact that the tulip tree is Indiana's state tree. These goodwill gestures were further endorsed by the fact that it was a rainy afternoon, but the clouds broke just as the planting ceremony began.
After the tree planning ceremony, we attended the 10th Anniversary Commemorative Symposium at the Tobu Hotel. Over 100 Japanese government and business leaders attended this event. Governor Fukuda, the governor of the Tochigi Prefecture, expressed his appreciation and his view of the importance of the delegation coming to Japan. Personal connections are very important to the Japanese and these face-to-face visits are crucial to successful relationships.
After thy symposium, we attended a reception for the Indiana delegation which was hosted by Fukuda. We were able to witness the tradition of the "breaking of the barrel." Six Japanese officials broke a barrel, filled with Saki, with wooden hammers.
An interesting observation that I've made is that many of the roofs in Japan are "green." The tops of the buildings have grass, trees and bushes. Not only is this great for their environment, but it is a way for the Japanese to have yards in an area that is highly populated.
The following blog was written by Priscilla Arling, Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at Butler University.
The majority of Indiana businesses recognize the increased use of Internet technology in the office and are concerned about whether that use is for business or personal use, as evidenced by the existence of formal policies on Internet use by over 60% of responding companies.
Despite this awareness and concern, however, more than 2/3 of those same companies lack technology-based controls or monitoring of Internet use. This may be either a deliberate choice by companies, a reflection of a hesitance to delve into employees' personal privacy even during working hours, or a sign that companies do not feel that abuse of Internet access (that is, use for personal reasons) is not severe enough to warrant spending funds to implement monitoring technology. My opinion is that the latter is most likely the case.
The survey suggests that while companies are aware of personal use during working hours of the Internet, in general, blogging has not reached the radar of awareness of most corporate HR or CEO's. However, companies may want to reconsider the lack of a blogging policy or at least assign someone in HR to investigate how employees are portraying the company on-line in personal blogs that are supported either on or off the company hardware. Increasingly, companies are finding that individual's employees' portrayal of the firm does not always mesh with their official public image.
We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Mervin Yoder join us for our second life science distinguished speaker's series luncheon. Dr. Yoder is a professor of pediatrics and biochemistry and molecular biology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He has written extensively on human umbilical cord blood banking and stem cell research. The timing of Dr. Yoder's remarks couldn't have been better as the Indiana statehouse recently signed legislation that established a public umbilical cord blood bank in Indiana (HB 1172).
Dr. Yoder focused his remarks on three areas:
There are two main categories of stem cells: embryonic stem cells (ES), which are derived from the cells of mammalian embryos, and adult, or somatic stem cells.
Stem cells hold particular promise in the treatment of diseases affecting bone marrow, nerve cells, heart muscle cells and pancreatic cells specifically for their ability to self-renew, or to divide and give rise to other stem cells.
Research into embryonic stem cells is relatively new. The first cord blood transplant was successfully completed in 1989. Since then, there have been 7,000 cord blood transplants and an increase in the number of cord blood banks. Cord blood has been proven as an effective treatment for a number of blood diseases. In fact, nearly 90 percent of children who have a fully matched sibling survive, but only 40-50 percent of patients receiving an unrelated donor transplant survive.
Dr. Yoder concluded his remarks with a look to the future. Specifically, he called on public cord blood banks to establish procedures and guidelines for collecting, maintaining and receiving donations. He also issued an appeal to banks to continue to educate health care professionals about the guidelines and to work with the healthcare community to establish procedures concerning patient informed consent and privacy. Finally, he issued a call to action to all in attendance to help promote public awareness of the benefits of cord blood banking and stem cell research.
Clearly the research at Indiana University and the passage of HB 1172 has put Indiana on the map with respect to cord blood banking. Now's the time to expand our reach and continue to innovative and find new treatment options for life threatening diseases.
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