Encryption

The President’s Council has directed that all University laptops incorporate a standard, full disk encryption solution with initial and annual costs borne by the unit purchasing the laptop.  Please refer any questions to UDit’s IT Risk Management Office (itriskmgmt@udayton.edu, 937-229-4387).

Laptops offer no less functionality than their desktop counterparts; users access the same types of enterprise systems and data.  By virtue of their size and mobility, however, they are at a significantly higher probability of loss or theft.   The Ponemon Institute, conducting independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy, published a study that suggested average costs surrounding a lost or stolen laptop were over $40,000 and Intel has reported that costs can be much higher.  Use of a whole or full disk encryption solution reduces the costs associated with mitigation of the loss or theft of a laptop to those associated with hardware replacement.

References:

• Business Risk of a Lost Laptop, Apr 2009
• The Billion Dollar Lost Laptop Study, Sep 2010
• UD's Electronic Use of Confidential Data Policy