Ford loses employee data

By Deni Connor, NetworkWorld.com, 12/22/05

This week Ford Motor Co. notified 70,000 current and former employees that a computer containing their social security numbers has been stolen from the company.

This is just another instance of data loss that could have been prevented.

A number of companies have secured data on desktops and laptops by encrypting it. Among them are Maimonides Medical Center and banking software vendor Baker Hill.

Companies are also looking at encrypting data on their storage-area networks (SANs) whether it is in-flight or at rest. Standards are emerging on this front, as we wrote about recently.

Ford has realized the importance of encrypting data on its Ford Data Exchange -- FDX uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and strong encryption for in-flight data. The company may even use some sort of encryption for its networked storage. Apparently, they missed an element of encryption -- that of protecting data on personal computers -- that may cause them headaches for months to come.

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Comments

There is only one way to protect the use of consumers’ names and personal data. Pass federal legislation to give the individual control over their name and private information, and, while we’re at it, pay them for its use. You can read about it in my blog, The Dunning Letter at: http://www.thedunningletter.blogspot.com.

Jack E. Dunning
Cave Creek, AZ

Posted by: Jack E. Dunning on January 3, 2006 02:56 PM

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