The loss of data on millions of credit card holders in the US underlines the importance of providing proper protection
IN RECENT weeks several items have made the headlines in the United States concerning negligent handling of sensitive computer data.
Although such cases have yet to result in a major lawsuit, it is only a matter of time before they do. There are 500 firms in the US alone that handle credit card data and transactions for the big card firms. Some of them recently reported that data for millions of card holders had gone missing.
In one case, backup tapes went missing while they were being transferred from one location to another. The key question asked at the time was whether the company had encrypted the data. Firms are required to encrypt data for just such an event.
US-based storage company Network Appliance (NetApp) recently announced it would acquire private company Decru, which specialises in protecting large amounts of data. Its Decru DataFort appliance protects the core of a storage network by inserting a layer of encryption, authentication and other controls to protect data.
The deal is expected to go through in October.