FileTalk - An Accellion Blog

A few weeks ago my daughter and I went to Las Vegas so I could attend a security conference. It just so happened that her school was having Spring Break the same week. Luckily I had a friend who was going there at the same time so they could play all day while I attended sessions on securing Enterprise data. Not sure who got the better deal

It turned out that the conference was really interesting. One of the sessions I attended had 4 CIOs from 4 different verticals (Healthcare, Law, Technology, and a major University) on a panel where attendees could ask questions regarding how they secured data within their Enterprise. They discussed many subjects including the difficulties of managing data leaving the Enterprise, managing a work force that is geographically dispersed and working more and more from home, and trying to keep up with the new generation of workers who expose themselves on social sites but get very upset if any part of their financial or personal data gets confiscated or used for purposes they did not approve.

The location of the conference was also interesting. It just so happens that Nevada was the first state to require businesses to secure personal data. Nevada State legislation Chapter 603-A was introduced in 2005 and an amendment was added late last year. This amendment added 2 significant changes: (1) a requirement to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI); and (2) requirements to encrypt personal information in certain contexts.

This year Massachusetts followed suit with their own legislation, CMR-17. Part 3 of the Computer Systems Security Requirements requires:  (3)Encryption of all transmitted records and files containing personal information that will travel across public networks, and encryption of all data containing personal information to be transmitted wirelessly.

It is good to see State Government taking an interest in controlling the transmission of sensitive personal data. Accellion Secure File Transfer helps businesses in these States comply with these new laws. Not only does Accellion send files encrypted, but also stores these files encrypted.

Vegas and Security? I guess these guys are ahead of the pack! I wonder when the rest of the world will catch up?

Mary Nicknish, Accellion Product Manager

I sit in on a lot of Sales calls at Accellion and have noticed a new trend in the past few months. It used to be when we brought up the need for Archiving or DLP integration with Accellion, that organizations would say they do have this requirement but aren’t doing anything about it right now. Suddenly it seems to be the new hot topic…must have DLP, must Archive. Now this isn’t every company I talk to, but I am surprised at the types of companies who say they need this. Especially the retail sector. I also hear it from Law offices, which makes sense. I think last year lawyers were holding back on any new systems, but now suddenly have a pent up need for this.

Is this upsurge in demand for Archiving and DLP a result of the economy getting better or because organizations have been going without protection for so long that they are getting nervous about getting caught? Anyone have an opinion?

Mary Nicknish, Accellion Product Manager