We were delighted to finally have John visit our chapter and share his words of wisdom on CyberSecurity. John has been in RIM for over 30 years and has experienced the triumphs and tragedies of technology during his tenure as a Records Manager.  He gave us an interesting and thought provoking presentation on cybersecurity, and the impact of RIM and computer technology, litigation and best practices.

Cyber security is the measure taken to protect computers, computer systems, information and property from theft, corruption and natural disasters while still allowing it to be accessible for the intended users. It seems that cyber security is here to stay and preventive measures on your computer operations and data have become a part of daily procedures. It impacts cloud computing, creates privacy issues, raises doubts on Intellectual Property Protection and could possibly be so severe as to even cause data loses that affect your businesses bottom line and related financial markets.

Homeland Security reports that there has been an incredible increase in Cyber Crimes and Cyber Terrorism and it is growing exponentially every year. It has become such a large problem that there are now career paths for cyber security. Some of the new career positions include: Cyber Policy Analyst, Chief Security Officer, Digital Forensics Expert and others.

Technology impacts RIM since most records are now electronic. Electronic records are a big part of our personal and business lives and are at great risks from hacking and data theft which can trigger a loss of confidentiality and your organizations reputation.

National Institute of Standards (NIST) has requirements for Cloud computing to help reduce the risk of loss or access to data stored in the cloud. Some of the issues were:  access permission, monitor use of ASP customers, timing of security breach notification, applicable service level agreements (SLA) and overall security just to name a few. It is important for RIM to work with Information Technology, Legal and Procurement during the negotiation period of using Cloud Computing.   

Security issues impact records and ARMA's Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles (GARP). They are:  Accountability, integrity, protection, compliance, availability, retention, disposition and transparency. Legal counsel continues to be increasingly concerned about record authenticity, reliability and secure systems for records trustworthiness and credibility. The average cost of a data breach for a company is $7.2 million, or an average of $214 per record compromised according to a recent survey by the Ponemon Institute.

John recommended that organizations consider taking a eRisk Self Assessment Survey. He supplied suggested action plans. 

For Members Only - John's presentation can be found on the ARMA Connecticut website.

by Anita Castora, CRM

III. To Improve Efficiency and Productivity

Let's face facts - everybody including RIM is overly busy today. Ever since we started doing more with less and multi-tasking, we have not only increased our workload but our busyness!!!  "The times they are a changing" says Bob Dylan and I agree wholeheartedly.   So in this environment, how can we become and stay more efficient and productive?

It is a fact that time spent searching for missing or misfiled records is unproductive and a waste of resources.   Organizations need a well designed and operated filing system with an effective index that will assist and improve retrieval and deliver information to users as quickly as they need it.  Having a good records management program can help an organization to upgrade its recordkeeping systems so that information retrieval and management is improved to provide overall office efficiency and productivity.

So, how do we make this happen? Fortunately, there are many tools and resources now available for Records Managers. To begin with, there are professional organizations like ARMA International that provide:  local chapters for education, webinars, taskforces, equipment and software reviews, and most recently, Generally Accepted Records Practices (GARP). There are many other industry based professional organizations that can also assist you in your search e.g., ILTA and AIIM, to name a few.

Some of the best tools available are Records Management software, document imaging systems and content management systems. It's easy to find products by doing a Google search and looking at the websites of the RIM and industry professional organizations. All of these tools can expedite your search and increase your ability to find records quickly once you have populated them with your records and information. Having knowledgeable RIM employees to assist in the research, development and implementation of the best tools for your organization is another key part of becoming efficient and productive.