On 5/3/05, Gerard Nicol <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Peter,
>
> You can scan all you want it does not necessarily prove anything.

I agree. did I say that scanning proves anything?

> You have to scan against something, and have a process to follow to quickly
> correct anomalies.

again I agree. When I cited FedEx/UPS I knew that they scanned against
something and that they have a process that one can follow. I guess I
wasn't explicit enough in describing my example


> The first step of the process needs to be the vendor knowing what you give
> them in the first place.

I am giving them an object they don' t need to know what is in the
package. the package can be like Russian nesting dolls a package
within a package.

>
> Tracking boxes is not the answer because the box won't fit in your tape
> drive.

sorry but you are tracking boxes because the tapes are in a box. you
don' t track the tapes until they arrive in the vendor's facility. I
ASSUME that the shipping container is securely locked and that the
vendor is not scanning each and every tape in the box UNLESS that is
part  of the PROCESS.

besides who said anything about putting a box in a tape drive? I sure didn't.

> Using a commercial data security provider should be viewed as a partnership
> rather than simply a service. There are things that you as a customer can
> do to reduce the chances of tape loss within this partnership.

of course there. And one of those things I as a customer should be
doing is testing and auditing the vendor's processes to make sure that
they are doing what they say they are doing. Secondly I don't want the
vendor to tell me that I should be encrypting my data. Encryption is
part of a business decision. Is the encryption cost prohibitive? If
yes then I accept the risk associated with the sending unencrypted
data. As the BoA woman noted in her testimony before the Senate
Banking Committee the tapes were pretty useless UNLESS you knew the
correct order in which to load the tapes and you had the software
required for that and to read the data.

In the case of Time Warner the tapes were picked up but the were not
known to be missing until the truck returned to facility 18 stops
after pick up. I as the customer would want to know the entire minute
process

>
> Some things to consider:
>
> (1) Give your provider an electronic copy of your inventory.

an inventory of what? the data on the tapes or an inventory of the
tapes? all the vendor needs to know IMHO is the number of tapes to
pickup and the associated barcodes.

> (2) If possible organize parking for the driver.

no comment. but does the vendor have two folks on the truck or just
the driver. Armored cars have 3 folks one remains with the truck at
all times.

> (3) Make sure the tapes are ready when the driver arrives.

once again no comment, part of the process.

> (4) Process returned tapes as soon as they come back.

by process do you mean verify what you are receiving?


Now tell me what the vendor should be doing to regain my trust after
losing my tapes. Will the vendor reimburse me for having to contact
all customers that there information has been lost? What part will the
vendor play in this notification effort?


--
Peter Kurilecz
Richmond, Va

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