Among her many responsibilities, the tasks of disk backup and deduplication fell to Karen, the company's friendly data entry analyst.
Karen was a capable young employee and had good intentions of fulfilling all her tasks to the best of her ability.
Leaving her briefcase full of files and archived tapes in her unlocked car was most definitely unintentional, but a costly oversight, nonetheless.
She had unwittingly compromised her company's data structure and caused irreparable damage to their reputation.
This unpleasant situation could have been avoided altogether.
The following are a couple quick and easy steps that Karen's company could have taken to prevent this from occurring.
One of the first things a company can do to avoid the theft of critical data is to initiate a data management contract with an outside firm.
This firm would be responsible for data archival measures.
This firm's remote office location could provide a safe facility for information to be stored.
Instead of data storage being an item on an employees to do list, this task becomes the primary contract objective of the chosen firm.
A company's data's security would be a top priority.
The reason for this is, of course, because their business model is specifically structured to provide security and safety.
The company who chooses to store information at an outside source also provides additional protection for files, should a company experience a breach of security or damage to their property.
With a little investigation and time, a company can equip themselves with the tools necessary to provide protection for all their vital information.
Another course of action a company should be advised to take to avoid data corruption is to institute a policy forbidding the removal of company data from the office.
This method of checks and balances must be strictly enforced to be effective.
Employees must not feel at liberty to be careless with company property, be that intellectual property or physical property.
The employee who acts irresponsibly with files and archived tapes , for whatever reason, is not an employee who values his responsibilities.
Employees with access to sensitive data materials should be those who have a proven track record of trustworthiness over the course of their tenure with the company.
Furthermore, employees whose job descriptions require involvement with storable or archival data must take their duties very seriously.
Employees who choose to ignore the enacted policy must know ahead of time what the consequences of their actions will be.
Karen's company could have avoided a costly and embarrassing situation.
Had the company taken the steps to make a contract with an outside source, Karen would not have been carrying sensitive material in her bag.
Had a policy been enacted and enforced, Karen would have known expectations and consequences.
But the blame should not fall squarely on the shoulders of this young analyst.
By taking a little extra time to create a viable storage maintenance solution, Karen's company could foster an environment of safety and security.
This lone measure would provide a safety net for stored data and offer an easy process for record retention.