Another entry in the ‘how could this happen’ club
I have been very outspoken on the fact that, although it is a cause, cyber-attack is not the risk. In Brisbane recently, there was a very sobering reminder of this when a large parcel of patients’ medical documents, earmarked for destruction, were lost on a busy Brisbane road.
As reported by the ABC, The documents had been picked up at the hospital in Herston by a contractor and were to be taken to a destruction facility. But the documents never arrived at their destination – instead they were found on the side of the road.
As a reminder, this was one of the causes I detailed against the risk: Unauthorised release of confidential information in that blog.
| Files (hard or electronic) lost while in the possession of a person in transit | Laptop lapses which embarrassed government (multiple examples)Fostering files left in street |
It is a timely reminder that if all of our focus is on the cyber cause, we are still not managing the risk. To do that, all causes need to be addressed because the physical handling of files and the management of files in a digital format both have the same outcome if not done appropriately – a potential unauthorised release of confidential information.
