ABSTRACT

Data security is emerging as one of the fastest growing areas in the information technology (IT) revolution. Data security is concerned with protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the IT assets of an organisation. Its IT assets consist of everything an organisation needs to generate, store, process, transmit and output its records and data. Included are personnel, mainframe and personal computers, databases, printers, networks, and so forth. Data security is unusual among management disciplines for the sheer number of areas upon which it impacts. To have adequate data security an organisation needs to pay particular attention to its policy regarding: personnel; buildings; choice of site; insurance; training; and communication networks. Security is in a class along with health-and-safety, and quality. Security measures might never be undertaken by a workforce unless some coercion were applied, and it is up to company directors to provide the framework and the impetus.