Protecting Data
 

When a company, business, charity or ANY organisation collects and uses data about people it must make sure that the data is used properly and that it is protected and safe.

So, there are rules that you must follow and things you must do in order to protect the data you hold in your system.
 

The Rules You Must Follow:

The Things You Must Do:
The rules that you must follow are given out by a special government department called the Data Protection Registrar. The rules that must be followed are called:

The 8 Principles of the Data Protection Act of 1998.

These principles (rules) state that all data must be:

1. Used fairly and lawfully
2. Used only for limited purposes.
3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive.
4. Accurate and relevant.
5. Not kept longer than neccessary.
6. Processed with attention to the data subject's rights.
7. Secure
8. Not tansfered to other countries without adequate protection.
The things you must do to protect the data you have are partly due to the Data Protection Act and partly to good working practice.The things that need doing are listed below to protect your data. You may not need to do all of these things, but your data must be prperly protected agains all possible ways that it could be destroyed or compromised.
Password protect PCs.
Password protect data files.
Encrypt data files.
Make backup copies of data.
Protect backups - store in a fireproof safe.
Protect computer and data from malicious code Malicious Code such as viruses, trojans and worms. Malicious code: Software that fulfils the deliberately harmful intent of an attacker when run. For example, viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are malicious code. Virus: Code written with the express intention of replicating itself. A virus attempts to spread from computer to computer by attaching itself to a host program. It may damage hardware, software, or data. Trojan horse: A program that appears to be useful or harmless but that contains hidden code designed to exploit or damage the system on which it is run. Trojan horse programs are most commonly delivered to users through e-mail messages that misrepresent the program's purpose and function. Worm: Self-propagating malicious code that can automatically distribute itself from one computer to another through network connections. A worm can take harmful action, such as consuming network or local system resources, possibly causing a denial of service attack.
Protect building from theft.
Safeguard rooms - locks on doors.
Destroy unwanted data media i.e. disks, tape using shredders.