We store sensitive information on nearly every electronic device we own. Computers, cell phones, and PDA’s are all common sources of data loss. One device that many do not recognize as a serious risk, though, is your standard issue photocopier. CBS News explains why copiers, found in offices and public locations worldwide, can create the need for crisis management:
Nearly every digital copier built since 2002 contains a hard drive – like the one on your personal computer – storing an image of every document copied, scanned, or emailed by the machine.
In the process, it’s turned an office staple into a digital time-bomb packed with highly-personal or sensitive data.
If you’re in the identity theft business it seems this would be a pot of gold.
I certainly don’t envy the person who has to explain why their organization had refused to spend a few hundred dollars to wipe the hard drives of old copiers and protect customer’s data, or that copies of confidential contracts were stolen because an employee used a public machine.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/