Thanksgiving Milestone: Nearly 3 Million North American's Records Exposed - Lack of Encryption Increases Risks of Identity Theft and Non-Compliance.

Thanksgiving Milestone: More than 3 million North Americans unexpectedly had their secret financial and health records exposed in the last 12 months when unencrypted computers were stolen, resulting in an increased likelihood of identity theft. Organizations that fail to encrypt computers risk running afoul of state and federal regulations. A free report from PC Guardian Technologies summarizes these mandates.

SAN RAFAEL, CA (PRWEB) November 14, 2004 -- Thanksgiving looms -- but numerous North Americans have little to be thankful for when it comes to an increased likelihood of identity theft: Last year, computer thefts in the US and Canada resulted in the unauthorized exposure of approximately 2.5 million unencrypted private records.

And early this month nearly 1 million more private financial records were exposed when a computer, which contained approximately 890,000 unprotected student loan records under the control of Wells Fargo & Company, was stolen. Wells Fargo, which experienced two similar computer thefts last year resulting in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers, mailed warning notices to customers, advising them to protect against identity theft.

According to Noah Groth, president of PC Guardian Technologies Inc., developer of encryption solutions for enterprise computers and removable media (http://www.pcguardiantechnologies.com), the risks go beyond identity theft.

Businesses and agencies that continue to fail to encrypt data face a compliance risk and are running afoul of state and federal regulations that require entities to secure data and notify customers of security breaches," says Groth, who summarizes U.S. information security regulations in the free report Encryption and Compliance.

The report finds that state and federal information security laws share some common elements, including the following:

Private and public sectors are equally responsible for protecting data and privacy.

Organizations are expected to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive consumer data through formal, regular security planning and monitoring.

Physical and technological safeguards must be used in combination to protect against unauthorized access to, disclosure of, and damage to records.

Organizations must notify customers -- pro-actively and quickly -- if their data may have been compromised.

Organizations must fix" problems once theyve been identified.

Encryption is an essential, underlying technology that can provide a safe harbor" from criminal or civil liabilities -- or from a precipitous decline in a publicly traded company's market value -- should data be stolen or lost.

To learn more or obtain a copy of PC Guardians Encryption and Compliance report, visit http://www.pcguardiantechnologies.com/compliance/index.html

About PC Guardian Technologies

Based near San Francisco, Calif., PC Guardian Technologies Inc. develops and markets enterprise encryption software that protects data on computers, PDAs and removable media (CD-ROM, DVD, and USB-storage devices) as well as data transmitted via email and FTP. Industries using PC Guardians encryption products include aerospace and defense contractors; central and commercial banks, insurance companies and other financial services firms; chemical and specialty chemical manufacturers; electric, gas and water utilities; telecommunications companies; federal, state and local governments; high-technology manufacturers; and major government integrators.

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