A Different Kind of Spring Release

Mintra has a long tradition of organising spring and fall releases, focusing on the various projects completed over the past six months.  Ivar Viktil, Managing Director at Mintra, opened the breakfast seminar by explaining the background for this new angle on the arrangement.

Photo: Ivar Viktil, Mintra as

“This time we want to focus on the opportunities and challenges of the future,” tells Viktil.

What Can You Do to Secure Your Organisation?

Kim Ellertsen is the Managing Director of the Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council (NSR).  NSR is a consultancy organ, which provides assistance to industry on questions about crime.  The title of her presentation was:  “What can you do to secure your organisation from information theft and leaks?”

Photo: Kim Ellertsen, Managing Director of the Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council (NSR)

Crime represents an enormous annual cost to Norwegian society and businesses.  Most organisations are affected.  We can achieve significant savings by preventing and focusing on crime.  To succeed, consciousness and knowledge are crucial.  Central questions organisations should ask themselves include:

- How can we prevent crime?
- What trends do we see?
- What social responsibility do we have in conjunction with information security?
- Communication, what should we share and what should we limit?

Ellertsen gave the following advice for security work:  “Don't start by thinking about what we need to secure, start by considering, and getting an overview of, the  information we have.”

E-mail and Security

Today, much of what were previously paper-based processes are electronic.  E-mail has replaced both formal letters and informal conversations.  New forms of communication lead to new security challenges.  Ellertsen challenged us to consider the following questions:

- Where is your e-mail?
- Is sensitive information available on your homepage?
- What procedural system do you have?
- E-mail can be used as evidence in disputes – do you take this into consideration?

Scope of the Threat

The threat to organisations can be divided into external threats and internal threats.  Today, the greatest problems come from within.  Information we want to secure finds its way out.

The Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council want us to have a superior, comprehensive perspective on security.  In that context, it is important to look at the following aspects:

- Technical security
- Physical security
- Personnel security

“The object of information security is to go from uncertainty to control,” told Ellertsen.

More Technology, More Responsibility

Information security is about our consciousness surrounding attitudes toward, and knowledge of, how we handle information, not the technology itself.  That was the main message of author and future blogger, Eirik Newth.

Photo: Eirik Newth

Technological limitations and restrictions don't increase security, what we need is training and knowledge that challenge our attitudes.

Some ethical security challenges that we need to increase our consciousness of include:

The more technology, the greater the responsibility.  Technology transfers responsibility to individuals.  On the Internet, you have unlimited access to information.  It's your responsibility to consider how reliable this information is.

It is going to happen.  Leaks will happen sooner or later.  It is important to be prepared and to have a strategy in place for reducing damaging effects.

Knowledge is always out of date.  We are always behind the times when it comes to security measures.  Whenever we initiate security measures, the need for new measures always becomes apparent.  This illustrates the importance of focusing on personal security consciousness, and not the technology itself.

Challenges in the New Internet Society

Leif Aanesen, Director at the Data Inspectorate, informed about central challenges facing Web 2.0 solutions.  One central question is:  “Who owns the information?”

Photo: Leif Aanensen, the Data Inspectorate

Another challenge facing Web 2.0, is that users often give up ownership rights to pictures and other information when they become members of an Internet society.  This means that others can profit from this information, and, in the worst case, it can be used against you in the future.

Aanensen concluded by asking us to ask ourselves the following question before we register on various free websites:  “Why is this free?”

Mobile Training Programme

Finally, Tore Svenning, from Mintra, informed about how interactive training, with dilemma training, can be an ideal way to increase employee consciousness of ethical challenges in the organisation.

“By combining traditional e-learning with mobile phones, teaching will gain an entirely new dimension, and will contribute to making training more realistic and exciting.  Participants may receive a phone call and be asked to answer relevant ethical dilemmas at various times.  This type of training brings ethical issues more down to earth,” tells Svenning.

Photo: Tore Svenning, Mintra as

Further, Tore Svenning informed that Mintra will be collaborating with four different organisations and companies in conjunction with this project.

“A large corporation uses millions of kroner every year on recruitment.  This is an investment that can often be money out the window if employees solve ethical challenges improperly and contribute to a loss of reputation.  The four companies participating in this project for dilemma training will receive free use of the programme for one year,” tells Svenning.  “That's a good investment.”

The Road Ahead

Mintra would like to thank everyone who participated in the breakfast seminar on ethics and information security.  The next big arrangement is the HSE Conference for Offshore Contractors at the end of May.  The conference is an initiative from Mintra, organised in cooperation with the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF), the Federation of Norwegian Industries, and Offshore Media Group.

Contact Chul Christian Aamodt if you would like more information about the conference.
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