Norwich Union has locked down employees’ access to USB memory sticks, rewritable DVD drives and floppy discs on 48,000 desktop PCs, as part of a programme to secure and control sensitive information.
The initiative is designed to protect the Aviva owned insurance firm from the risk of disgruntled employees misusing sensitive information or staff inadvertently introducing viruses or spyware on to the IT network.
“We are talking about price-sensitive information, the impact of viruses, and the potential of spyware,” said programme manager Ian Gladstone. “You would be surprised how far competitors would go to get hold of information.”
Under the scheme, Norwich Union monitors data transfers into and out of the organisations, and restricts staff to using designated folders to send data, keeping logs of the transactions.
