Here in Massachusetts, Personal Information is required by law to be protected. Since most of the technical concerns we are now hearing about are regarding portable media and laptop computers, the industry focus in Massachusetts has been on encryption technologies. The new data protection regulations, effective March 1, require portable devices and storage media be secured by encryption.

Encryption of data can be done with simple desktop tools available now, the software is easy to use and doesn’t really necessitate much of a change in how you use your computer. Once encrypted, data cannot be read by anyone, even if a hacker were to bypass your password protection.

This prompts some additional questions that will be addressed in future blog entries…

› What is the difference between password protection and encryption?
› Isn’t encryption software expensive to deploy?
› Do I really need it?

If you need answers right away, Centrend is helping businesses with answers to these questions. Each business is different, so I’m inviting you to contact me directly for answers to questions about encryption for your unique situation.

- Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 x135
bbowman@centrend.com