FileTalk - An Accellion Blog

Promoted as the biggest contest of “man vs. machine” since Deep Blue took on Kasparov, this week’s Jeopardy face-off betwen Watson, IBM’s computer creation, and the show’s previous grand champions is great entertainment. Regardless of who, or what ultimately wins, it’s a thought provoking experiment and spectacle.

I checked out the New York Times online link to play a personal, one-on-one game of Jeopardy against Watson. I was reasonably sharp on “Historic Fashion” and “What me Worry?” but Watson had the edge on “Before and Now” and “A Musical Pastiche”. For each question, whether you get it right or wrong, Watson provides details on what it would have answered and the other possible answers it considered. For example:

Question: This 19th-century dress support is a synonym for excited activity; don’t be alarmed if there’s one in your hedgerow
Answer: Bustle
Other Answers Watson considered: Boot, Bodice, Crinoline

It got me thinking about questions that might give Watson or the other contestants an advantage.  Recognizing that Watson is after all a computer, it probably has the edge on any computer, IT-related questions – you would think.  In tribute to this great computer experiment/media stunt, here’s our proposed question category with some sample questions.  Too easy you may say, but try asking these questions within your organization. May the best human/machine win.

Category – Enterprise File Sharing

Question: Information that takes up most of the storage on an email system?
Answer: Files

Question: A small device, named after part of the hand, used to transport files, easy to lose?
Answer: Thumb drive

Question: Healthcare regulation that restricts the sharing of personal health information?
Answer: HIPAA

Question:  An event that typically makes headline news involving the loss of information?
Answer: Data Breach

Ouch.  That headline is just not good, anyway you look at it.  As reported in an SC Magazine article today “An email sent in error that contained details of General Motors’ upcoming flotation could have cost Swiss Bank UBS an estimated $10 million.”

This data security lapse appears to have resulted in UBS being dropped as an underwriter for the plan by GM’s owners to sell $10bn in common stock on November 18, to partially payback some of the $50bn US Government bail-out the company received during the financial crisis.

This mistake should never have been allowed to happen.  While humans do make mistakes, there are any number of IT security systems that could have prevented or reduced the risk of this mistake.  Let’s review some obvious ones:

•  Any communications on such a large financial deal should have been sent securely, requiring user authentication.
•  Content monitoring and filtering software could have flagged the email for sensitive information and quarantined the email until it had been approved for sending.
•  Sending sensitive financial information via secure file transfer would have allowed the download link to be deactivated once the error was detected.
•  Sending sensitive information via secure file transfer would also have resulted in a return receipt from any unintended recipients allowing earlier detection and reduction of further downloads.

It’s very hard to understand why at least one of these data security systems was not in place to mitigate the risk. With the size of financial transactions that are at stake, it seems a wise and prudent investment for financial institutions to put in place IT safeguards against human error.  While email is wonderfully accessible and easy to use for business users, it is far too easy to make an inadvertent mistake that unfortunately can have significant financial implications.

At Accellion we help a large number of financial institutions, including the Bank of Scotland, Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin and Deloitte & Touche, protect their confidential information with secure file transfer solutions that reduce the financial risk of business user mistakes.  We understand that to err is human.