Home Information for UM Faculty and Staff Mobile Device Security What kind of IT security does your research require?

What Kind of IT Security Does Your Research Require?

Three areas of IT security should be considered for research projects involving mobile devices:

1. Protecting the device
2. Protecting data in transit
3. Protecting data at rest

Protecting the Device

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Protecting data in transit

Sending sensitive data via email over the Internet has inherent security risks: data can be viewed, stolen or corrupted. This risk can be mitigated by ensuring that access to the Internet from remote locations is secure and/or protecting the data. This can be done by:

• Securing the connection through VPN and/or iPass

instructions

• Securing the data through encryption

Instructions

• Use policies

Protecting data at rest

The importance of data security cannot be underestimated. While some technology is free, more sophisticated technology will come with a cost that should be recognized early in the grant proposal process. At a minimum, encryption and secure deletion should be in place. This can be done by:

• Password protecting the laptop

Instructions

• Remote wiping of data

Instructions

• Use Policies

Suggested products:

• Iron Mountain (laptop encryption)

S-Wire (encryptable email)

• Free University Resources

Security Shorts (safecomputing.umich.edu/tools/security_shorts.html)

Apple and Microsoft: User-accessible file and folder encryption built-in to the OS.

• Pointsec for PC and Pointsec for Pocket PC: Encryption software for PCs and Pocket PC devices.  File, folder and full disk encryption.
• SecureDoc and SecureDoc PDA: Encryption software for PCs and Pocket PC devices.  File, folder and full disk encryption.
• DESlock+: File and folder encryption for PCs.
• NMS for PC: File, folder and disk encryption for PCs.
• PKWARE SecureZIP: File and folder encryption for PCs and Unix/Linux.
• SafeBoot: File, folder and disk encryption for PCs.
• PGP Desktop: File, folder (and optionally, disk encryption on PCs) encryption for PCs, Macs, and Unix/Linux.