Internet Security Has Become a Big Topic

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. Statement of the Problem Of course, the problem that the company encountered was that one employee had access to a great deal of sensitive information that could have done the company a great deal of harm.

The information considered both the intimate electronic identification of the employees (which could be used for identity theft) and the credit card information of customers. The biggest problem for the company is that the loss of such information could be traced back to them and that could do immense damage to the business. Such breaches of security have, in the past, damaged a company beyond repair (Markoff, 2011).

It is no small matter when an employee, who has been trusted with sensitive information of this sort, abuses that privilege and sells to the highest bidder. The main issue then is who among the employees gains information. Employees at Sequential Label and Supply were probably well vetted before anyone was allowed access to information which could damage the company. Unfortunately, there are always those people who will seek lucre over loyalty.

Therefore, the company has to come up with a better way to make sure that even those employees who are trusted with sensitive information are monitored so that they cannot sell sensitive information to an outside source. 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.