As more and more data is consolidated into centralized data centers, more data can be comprised at a single location by a potentially larger group of privileged users – increasing the data security risk. Breaches at the local and federal government level continue to occur and continue to inspire new legislation and new requirements for data protection within government agencies. The potential loss of public trust in the agencies who keep personal information on millions of Americans has inspired the government to take action. Laws such as the Federal Information Security Management act of 2002 (FISMA and the Privacy Act already require protection of sensitive data. With the creation of the Identity Theft Task Force, government agencies are now required to develop and implement plans and procedures to sufficiently protect against breaches and notify those at risk when breaches do occur.

The Vormetric Data Security Expert solution can:

• Apply strong encryption to protect sensitive data
• Digitally sign hosts and application services to prevent unauthorized insider access to data
• Leverage existing application and OS level authentication and authorization
• Enforce least privilege access to sensitive data based on who, what, when, where and how policies
• Log and audit access to sensitive data in a heterogeneous environment.

Federal Drivers for Data Protection:

• OMB – Safeguard Information Assets - Removable Media (Tape)
• OMB – Safeguard Against Breach – Data Encryption
• NARA Bulletin
• Federal Agency Data Breach Protection Act
• Federal Agency Data Breach Protection Act (more)
• 2007 Privacy and Security Act