Securing Data 101.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis

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After two data breaches involving the records of more than 28,000 students, the University of Cincinnati (UC) is shoring up its electronic defenses. But it also needs to protect data stored in unlocked file cabinets in university offices across campus.

In August 2007, a flash drive containing more than 7,000 students' names, Social Security numbers, and dates of attendance was stolen from a desk at the College of Applied Sciences. Just two months later, insurance waiver forms including Social Security numbers for approximately 21,000 people were stored in filing cabinets that were sent out to the university's Asset Management office to be resold.

University policy requires three separate inspections of office equipment before leaving UC property. Each checkpoint failed.

After two incidents within two months where personal student records were stolen, lost, or left unsecured, the school said it would install encryption software on more than 8,000 UC computers to protect sensitive records.

However, a Cincinnati newspaper, The New Record, discovered a room at the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences containing multiple, unlocked filing cabinets filled with student information. The paper reported that its staff members were able to enter the unlocked room, open file cabinets, and access inactive student documents easily and without...