Reading Borough Council has issued its staff
with
encrypted laptops to protect confidential client data against
theft and abuse.
An
“
increasingly mobile users base” includes social and care
workers who record confidential case notes on the laptop while in
the field.
John Barnfield, the council’s IT programme and service delivery
manager, said the threat of a £5,000 fine for every data security
breach plus the level of crime in the Thames Valley made the
decision a “no-brainer”.
The council is using DESlock+ from UK software house
Data Encryption Systems (DES). The USB stick-based encryption
system, supplied to Reading via systems integrator
Northgate Information Systems, added £25 to the cost of each
laptop.
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>>
Reading Borough Council
>>
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>>
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