Education Channel Partner

• > Home
• >
• Newsline

• Email this article
• Print this article

Newsline

By: Karen Billings

10/1/2008

An analysis of key events that impact the education market.

Keeping Customer Data Secure

Personal identity theft, stolen laptops containing sensitive information, and hackers getting into huge company databases and causing high-security breaches frequently make the news. Meanwhile, state and federal agencies are requiring more personal information from applicants, increasing the flow of information as well as the number of people that need to access it. As teachers and students hand over their personal information and use credit cards to purchase materials from online stores it's critical for education companies collecting data to set strong standards for storing, accessing, and transmitting it.

To strengthen online security, the major credit card brands that comprise the Payment Card Industry (PCI) have developed new data-security standards for online credit card payments. On June 30, these standards became mandatory for any organization handling credit card payments. While PCI probably had retailers in mind, these data-security standards will affect all vertical markets that sell online.

Implications for Sales

You will want to assure your customers that their data is as secure as possible and leverage that security to build a trusting relationship with them. Check with your company and be sure it complies with these new security standards, and also pushes to strengthen security measures for collected data. Customers will be concerned that these four areas are addressed to lower its chances of a security breach:

1. What data-collection controls does your company use? Who monitors the access to the data? Can users outside your company's network access sensitive information?
2. Do you store key data outside your main databases? Is it accessible by users outside your company?
3. Does your company have partners that handle the information you collect? If so, they must be in compliance with the security standards.
4. Does your company use shared accounts and passwords? Change them often. If you are using passwords or user names that came as default settings, change them now!

We know that education institutions are spending technology budget dollars for this protection. Keep the four areas listed above in mind and you can assure your customers that their data is secure with you!