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Notes from a Michigan Homeland Security Consortium Town Hall Meeting

Opinion
Mar 25, 20092 mins
Data and Information SecurityIdentity Management SolutionsIT Leadership

On March 24, 2009, the Michigan Homeland Security Consortium hosted a panel discussion addressing Data Privacy. The panel comprised experts in the fields of encryption, law, and forensics.  While the business leaders in attendance worked in different fields, they were united in their concern for the security of their core information assets.  Below is a summary of the panel discussion.

 

Security Breaches

Ramie Phillips III, CTO of Encryption Security Solutions/Pure Entropy Technologies 

Unfortunately, the value of information is not fully realized until it is lost. This is especially true in the case of personal and competitive information.  Through the use of case studies, Mr. Phillips emphasized the benefits of a proactive security strategy when protecting critical data.

Privacy and Identify Theft

Kathy Osian – Attorney, Miller/Canfield 

Every industry can mark its progress to maturity by the laws imposed to deal with its social and business implications.  Mrs. Osian discussion focused on privacy legislation including HIPAA, COPPA, and FACTA.  She described the challenges involved in creating effective legal protection for the victims of privacy breaches.

Understanding Privacy and Security

Dwayne Hopkins – CEO, Innovation Corporate Solutions 

The modern threat landscape requires that businesses respond with an integrated risk management plan.  Mr. Hopkins described the steps that every company must take to understand the value of its data and protect it accordingly. He also stressed that security must be integrated into the corporate ethos.

The event closed with a round table discussion that included Nanette Poulious, Director of the Information Assurance program at Walsh College.  The questions posed to the panel reflected a readiness from the business community to consider information security as business enabler.   Given the damage from recent data breaches, this attitude must be embraced throughout this nation.

steven_fox

Steven F. Fox provides security guidance to ensure compliance with Federal standards and requirements as a Senior Security Architecture and Engineering Advisor for the IRS. Fox contributes to multiple working groups including the IPv6 transition team, Developer Security Testing workgroup and the Security and Privacy workgroup. He brings a cross-disciplinary perspective to the practice of information security; combining his experience as a security consultant, an IT Auditor and a systems engineer with principles from behavioral/organizational psychology to address security challenges. He is a syndicated blogger covering IT Governance, Risk Management and IT-Business fusion topics. He also volunteers his time to the Ponemon Institute and Security BSides Detroit. Follow him on Twitter - http://twitter.com/securelexicon Join his LinkedIn network - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/251/3a1