There are a variety of causes that can lead to the loss off devices, storage media and documents. Availability is directly affected, but confidential information may also fall into the wrong hands if the storage media are not completely encrypted. There are costs associated with the replacement of devices or storage media; even if they reappear, information may have been disclosed or undesired programs may have been installed.
End devices and mobile storage media in particular can be lost easily. Today, huge amounts of data can be stored on small memory cards. However, there are still regular occurrences of documents in paper form accidentally left behind, for example in restaurants or on public transportation.
Examples:
- An employee uses her journey to work in the tram to look through some documents. In the rush to get off the tram at her stop, she accidentally leaves the papers on the seat next to her. The documents are not of a confidential nature, but several signatures of senior managers must be obtained again as a consequence.
- At a big public event, an employee accidentally drops a memory card with confidential calculations on the floor without noticing this when he is looking for something in his briefcase. The finder sifts through the content on their laptop and sells the information to competitors.
- A manufacturer sends CDs with software updates for troubleshooting purposes to customers by post. Some of these CDs are lost on the dispatch route without the sender or recipients being informed about this. As a result, the customers affected have to deal with malfunctions of the software.
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Copyright by Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (https://www.bsi.bund.de/)