Here’s an update on two ISG-recommended products that were introduced to the campus community this past semester: Identity Finder and Symantec Endpoint Encryption.
IDENTITY FINDER
Over 1.3 million pieces of PII (personally identifiable information) have been detected here at Brown by the scanning tool Identity Finder. This represents almost 700 scans performed on some 300 Endpoints (computers). The high number of scans compared to the number of computers scanned indicates that follow-up scans were run after remediation efforts had been taken.
Here is a break down of what was found:
And follow-up actions taken:
This is a great start: lowering the risk level for data breaches, protecting hundreds of instances of personal information, and bringing peace of mind, not only to these individuals but the CISO, Internal Auditors, and Office of Risk.
If you haven’t installed and run Identity Finder, you are encouraged to do so, particularly since you may find a few extra quiet moments now that summer has arrived. PLUS, there’s a free version available to install on your personal computers at home. Visit the Identity Finder page for more information and links to an FAQ and download pages.
SYMANTEC ENDPOINT ENCRYPTION
While Identity Finder is recommended for everyone at Brown, Symantec Endpoint Encryption (SEE) is a full disk encryption solution targeted toward faculty and staff who use laptops containing Brown Restricted Information, especially those who are frequent travelers. Thus far, SEE has been installed on over two dozen laptops, but that number will grow considerably over the summer as an initiative gets underway to encrypt the laptops of users identified as most at risk.
To learn more about SEE and find out whether it might be right for you or someone else in your department/office/unit, read the SEE FAQ.
