Re: [Fed-Talk] no sensitive data on Macbooks at NIH
Re: [Fed-Talk] no sensitive data on Macbooks at NIH
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] no sensitive data on Macbooks at NIH
- From: Dave Schroeder <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:15:57 -0500
Forgive me, but I don't see where in the original article it said the
stolen laptop was a Mac. (Was it?) Of course, even if it was, any
system running any OS still could also have not been encrypted.
It looks to me like this is nothing more than a Mac version of
Pointsec not being available yet, and thus not allowing Mac laptops
used in mobile settings to handle sensitive data. Am I missing
something?
- Dave
On Apr 5, 2008, at 3:26 PM, William G. Cerniuk wrote:
But if NIH could have said "The Apple laptop was encrypted with
FileVault, the government certified Apple encryption system, the
data is not at risk"... this might have almost been different.
V/R,
Wm. Cerniuk
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 4, 2008, at 19:57, Stephen Bates <email@hidden>
wrote:
U.S. Health Agency Forbids Sensitive Data On Apple MacBooks
Employees who store medical records on laptops must use systems
that run either on Microsoft's Windows operating system or Linux.
By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
April 4, 2008
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001840
In the wake of a widely publicized security breach that left
thousands of patient records exposed, the federal government's
National Institutes of Health is forbidding all employees who use
Apple's MacBook laptops from handling sensitive data as of Friday,
InformationWeek has learned.
Employees at the health agency who store medical records and other
personal information on laptops must use systems that run either on
Microsoft's Windows operating system or Linux, according to an
agency memo.
Those systems must be equipped with Check Point Software's Pointsec
encryption tool as of April 4, according to an NIH mandate. Systems
running Windows Vista can also use Vista's built-in BitLocker disk
encryption tool.
NIH imposed the no-MacBooks rule because there is no Apple-
compatible version of Pointsec. To date, Check Point has only
released a beta version of Pointsec for Macs that's not yet ready
for government use.
"Computers that cannot be encrypted by Pointsec at this time (e.g.,
Macs) are waived from the encryption mandate, but only with the
stipulation that they do not contain any PII or sensitive
government information," the NIH Office of Research Services said
in a memo to NIH staff. PII refers to personally identifiable
information.
NIH said it's been given no estimate as to when a final version of
Pointsec for Macs may become available. It was not immediately
clear how many Apple MacBooks are in use at the NIH. It also wasn't
clear whether the ban extends to the whole of the U.S. Department
of Health And Human Services, of which NIH is a part.
An NIH spokesman did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking
more information.
The MacBook ban applies to in-house NIH workers and also to
contractors employed by the agency to handle sensitive data,
according to the memo.
NIH employees who use laptops that are permanently anchored to a
desk or research equipment can ask for an exemption from the
encryption mandate as long as they place a "Do Not Remove" sticker
on their machines.
NIH's decision highlights one of the biggest challenges facing
Apple as it seeks to make greater inroads against Microsoft in the
business and government computing markets. Commercial software
developers have little incentive to port business applications to
the Mac because the platform holds only a tiny share of the
business computing market.
NIH imposed the April 4 deadline in the wake of an embarrassing
incident in February in which a laptop containing records on 2,500
patients enrolled in a medical study was stolen. The laptop was not
encrypted, despite a 2-year-old federal policy that mandates
encryption on government systems.
NIH did not disclose the type of laptop that was stolen. Apple
officials were not immediately available for comment.
Copyright © 2007 CMP Media LLC
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