With the world becoming increasingly tech savvy, the compact disk, or CD is an electronic contraption that is being used in most houses and offices to store data. However, their utility is somewhat diminished when data gets lost or spoilt due to improper handling and storage of these fragile CDs. However, the mechanical world has found a solution to such problems as well, presented to us in the form of a variety of CD storage cases. Proper covers are necessary to protect CDs from dust, scratches and breaking.
There are various kinds of CD storage cases available in markets that cater to the needs of all CD users, in the terms of capacity, design and price. The original CD cover, when it first came into use was the Jewel CD case, which is still popular, particularly in the marketing of movies, music and software. It is usually a three part plastic case, with opposing flaps hinged together to form a casing. Typically, Jewel CD case holds no more than two discs. Though, the design is such that a CD is protected from scratching, such CD storage cases tend to be rather delicate and breakable.
A somewhat later innovation in disk storage was marked by the introduction of the 'Discwheel'. Discwheels are circular plastic CD storage cases which allow for the disk to be rotated manually. Variants of this CD covering are the Snap Case and Soft/Green Case.
For the purpose of mass storage, plastic bulk packages called 'Spindles' are used. Also known as 'Cake Boxes', these comprise of a circular base with a cylindrical tube in the center which is used to hold stacks of CDs. It is covered by a clear cup-like open cylinder which is slightly bigger than the CD. These spindles can hold up to 72 or more, depending upon the size required by the user.
Apart from these, elaborate compact CD storage cases with varying storage capacities have been developed by independent companies for storing CDs that do not have covers. These come in many designs that use sliding or hinge mechanisms so that many CDs can be stored within a compressed space.
The Data Protection Act 1998 makes it a criminal offence to 'lose' data and this can carry prison sentences and/or fines with it. This can often be the beginning of your problems though. For instance if a bank lost details of customer's bank accounts, this wouldn't just be bad for the bank, but also for the customer's themselves. Thieves may use these customer details themselves or even sell them to those that want to use them.
This problem has become much worse in the digital age. Back in the days of paper records, it would have been very difficult to easily get away with thousands of people's data - it would just be too heavy!
It has become much easier because of factors like wireless internet connections, losing USB memory sticks and leaving Laptops or Hard-drives in the wrong place. It may seem ridiculous that someone knowingly carrying sensitive information may let it slip their mind if they leave their laptop somewhere, but it does happen. There's an old question, my friend used to ask me: If you found a Million in whatever currency in a suitcase, what would do with it? Like most people I would answer 'hand it in' and he always used to reply 'but if someone can afford to forget and lose a million, surely it can't be that much money to them'. His answer does have elements of truth to it, but even the most trust-worthy well intentioned people can make mistakes. The best way to prevent these mistakes, is to not allow for the situation to arise in which it can be lost.
Many of the ways to do this are very simple and some are not. Here I will discuss a few in the context of an office protecting their employee's details.
1) Train employees to constantly change their passwords. Most people who work with computers will probably do this already, but if not, it is difficult to stress how much of an effect it can have. One of the first ways this can be abused is by possible disgruntled co-worker. I have seen many times people on social network sites like Facebook or twitter who are posting things out of character. Often this is maybe an ex-girlfriend, or a friend who just wants to make you seem like telling the world you smell like fish is a good idea.
These can often be harmless. The password can usually be changed again and things returned to the way they were but in terms of business this can be very damaging. For instance, say your company deals with High profile clients. Two of your co-workers have had a recent disagreement and one of them takes revenge by emailing that high profile client under the persona of the other co-worker. They may think it's probably harmless and the email will be ignored. Before you know it, the client is no longer using your service and is telling other high profile clients not to use it either. suddenly your reputation is extremely damaged beyond control and it's all down to one worker who didn't change their password.
I have also heard of workers, using their co-workers details to steal from the company and the wrong employee losing his job. As a company you want to avoid any events such as this, especially if the worker decides to take legal action.
Passwords that find their way out of the office and into the hands of, let's say a hacker, has obvious repercussions.
2) Using adequate security software. Like your immune system, your security software has to be able to adapt due to the possibility of constant attacks. It's always best to be prepared for the worst than to be caught short at the worst moment. The best way to keep up-to-date is to use a security software, developed by a company that invests a great deal of time in fighting the latest security threats and releases patches and up-dates regularly.
3) Define company rules about social networking. It would be best to advice employees to not use social networking and you could even block them from being used. Personally I think they boost moral. Sometimes it can be beneficial for some work places to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter because of how they have been integrated into everyday life. I personally feel more enthusiastic about my work day if I can post the occasional personal tweet.
What you don't want though is employees talking about sensitive things that shouldn't really be talked about in the public domain. Having this online presence can, like the password issue I mentioned first, can lead to profiles being hacked and un-wanted things happening on-line as this can make you look very bad. On twitter, many celebrities are hacked and this can lead to gaining a bad reputation. Just think, over night you could be made to look like the next Charlie Sheen.
4) Minimise the use of storage devices such as USB memory sticks. I don't know a single person who has never lost one. That itself is quite self explanatory.
5) Encrypt your data. Although there are whizz kids out there who know their way around encryption codes, your information is more than likely going to be picked up by people who do not. By encrypting your data, it allows you time to recover it or deal with the loss of data on your side. This kind of thing comes in useful when you have lost your mobile phone. Mine is password protected and it will take anyone at least a few hours to guess my combination, allowing me time to block my phone before they can access it. This example may be even more relevant if your employees are all given smart-phones to access their emails on the go.
