Education

Educational institutions are the custodians of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and sensitive data within their administrative offices. With finance records, student loans, employment records, or other sensitive documents protecting the information is critical.

Within the alumni offices, the collection of alumni personal data including PII and potential donations made to their Alma Mater brings about the responsibility to secure it so that data breaches do not occur. Accidentally exposing credit card information or alumni financial information can be extremely damaging to fund raising, and to fostering alumni trust.

In addition, universities conduct a great deal of research and produce a vast amount of sensitive intellectual property that needs to be protected.

So, where does this data reside? The reality is that universities and colleges have sensitive data residing on multiple platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux. In addition, they deal with data being transferred to removable media like CD/DVDs, SD cards and USB storage devices. Compounding the situation, they are now dealing new security technology in the form of self encrypting hard drives (SEDs), self encrypting USB thumb sticks and other security technology like Intel’s Anti-Theft Technology entering their heterogeneous IT architecture.

Colleges, universities and other educational institutions, despite a culture and mandate that promotes the sharing of data, face the same issues as commercial enterprises when it comes to protecting personal identifiable information (PII). The risks are compounded by the transitional nature of many functional and working relationships at an educational institution. The challenge becomes – how can you ensure sharing and collaboration goes on as needed without risking exposure of PII or other sensitive data?

That’s where SecureDoc comes in.
SecureDoc enables educational institutions to protect PII without constraining the ability to collaborate as needed. The ability to synchronize users, encryption keys, key files, and group files with Active Directory means that authorized users across the organization can access and share data (with variable access levels) with NO PASSWORDS REQUIRED, while keeping the sensitive data fully secure. In particular, the ability to dynamically add and remove authorized users from user groups supports the changing user base frequently found in this environment. In addition, SecureDoc is centrally managed and easily deployed across worldwide campuses to Windows, Mac and Linux clients alike. It also manages standard and SEDs with the capability of managing trusted devices that enter their IT environment.

What can SecureDoc do for Educational Institutions?
SecureDoc delivers a complete data security solution including government-grade encryption that reliably and transparently protects PII across the organization without inhibiting collaboration and sharing where needed. SecureDoc can also be offered in a Software-as-a-Service mode to better meet the variable usage needs of Educational Institutions.

• Protection of sensitive data and personal identifiable information on laptops, other computers, and associated removable media including USB thumb drives and CD/DVDs
• Flexible administration for variable user bases that may change from term to term and year to year
• Continuity of access to critical computers and data storage devices in the event of forgotten passwords or other mishaps
• Secure sharing of data with other institutions, research partners and other stakeholders
• Prevention of data leakage to unencrypted removable media (CD/DVD/USB)

• Available Software-as-a-Service deployment model
• A complete range of encryption options for hard drives and removable media
• File/Folder encryption and container encryption to provide granular control over access to sensitive data and intellectual property even within a group of users
• Compatibility with self-encrypting hard drives for rapid deployment and secure high performance usage including engineering, CAD and other demanding applications
• Centralized configuration, administration & control
• Configurable Audit trails and reports
• ‘Silent’ deployment and user transparency to eliminate the need/cost of user training

• Press Release: Mt. Sinai (University of Toronto)
• Solution: Hosted Services