Data Leaks For Dummies®

Chapter 19. Losses from the Unlikeliest Places

In This Chapter

• Accidentally helping cyber-criminals.

• Destroying electronic data

• Safely selling and repairing equipment

• Finding data in unlikely places

• Dealing with the printed word

Whether you've been jumping around in the book or reading straight through, by this point you're probably familiar with data loss (whether by leaks or by breaches) as a threat to electronic data and in an everyday working environment. But these days data lives in a lot of other places — and they all need protection. If that isn't something you think about much (or regularly), this chapter is aimed at helping you to remember.

The good news is that in all these cases, securing your data is often as close as making a simple change in company policy and/or procedure, followed by bringing the staff up to speed about why the changes are necessary. We start with an obvious situation: How often have you walked past a pile of old computer equipment sitting in the corridor and thought, "I wish someone would remove that" — and then find it gone one morning and think, "About time"? Sometimes, of course, as the old junk leaves the building, so too might the company's data — and reputation.

Is That Your Data Walking Out the Door?

In the same way that stealing backup tapes will give you access to all the important company information, so too would stealing the machines. Now there is a way to steal machines without actually stealing them. In fact, people will help you if you offer ...