Internal security breaches and employee access to sensitive data

Internet security has become a big topic in the last few years because every business and every person has, to some extent, allowed their information to be captured by the web. With businesses, it is necessary to keep certain records on the computer because it makes processing payroll and other critical issues much easier and more secure. Though it is true that computers can be kept much more secure than paper records for the most part, there are challenges in maintaining computer security also.

One large issue is that people who work for a particular company are always an issue. Through the lure of money or some other gain, it is possible for outside sources to gain access to critical customer and employee files via an unscrupulous employee. The case study analyzed here is concerned with just such a problem. The topic is what types of security are needed in a company.

Summary of the Case

The case begins with an employee leaving an unlabeled compact disc on a break room coffee table and the events that unfold from that action. After the first employee leaves, another employee comes into the break room and after a while discovers the CD. The second employee wants to return the CD to the right person, but that requires some investigation on her part. She found that the CD contained critical company information such as employee social security numbers and customer credit card information. There was also an email to a person that was going to receive the stolen information. Through investigation she found out the identity of the employee who had gathered the information. The employee who found the CD called an anonymous security line her company had set up, and then went through the process, with human resources, of making sure that the company was again secure.

A second part of the case dealt with the aftermath of the security breach. The company security head gathered all of the employees for a security briefing, and a brainstorming session to see what the employees believed needed to have more security. During this session, the employees discovered that there are many more aspects to security than they had previously thought.

Proposing a Solution

The solution to the issue is better security from the company's employees (Fowler, 2011). Employees will sometimes unwittingly allow outsiders to enter the company through an email breach or because the employee has carelessly used unsecured equipment to access sensitive company data (Fowler, 2011), but also because, as in the given scenario, employees sometimes feel misused by the company or they are just greedy. The way to eliminate the issue completely is to not allow any company employee the ability to access sensitive company data; but, of course, this is not possible. The best way to ensure security is to first have the best security software and monitoring, but also to make sure that employees are constantly aware of security (Google, 2011), and that they are also aware of the penalties for breeches.