17,000 USB sticks- Don’t get taken to the cleaners!

We were intrigued to find out the results of a recent survey of dry cleaners today.  Yes, that’s right, dry cleaners.  How on earth could that possibly be of interest to us at Exemplas, you cry?  Well, because of one nugget of information that leapt out at us- more than 17,000 USB sticks were left in items of clothing deposited at the dry cleaners in 2010!

Of course, this has massive implications for information security, something which is a concern for all businesses.  In recent years the focus for information security has fallen on IT- understandable when high-profile companies including Lush and eHarmony are recent victims of website hacking.  However, it’s worth remembering that no amount of encrypting can help you if you hit the wrong reply button on your e-mail!  Or leave a highly sensitive document on a train.

So it makes sense for a company to have processes in place to ensure information security.  It’s good for business- it protects you, your suppliers and your customers, enhances trust and respect from them, demonstrates that you comply with laws around data protection and increases your reputation.  But what’s the best way to go about this?

An obvious way is to become ISO27001 certificated.  This demonstrates that you have systems in place ensure information security is a part of operations across the entire company, and is embedded in the culture of your organisation.  You can find out more about ISO27001 on the British Standards Institute website, or about how ISO27001 can help you by contacting us on info@exemplas.com