Update on information security

The following is a message from President Nathan Hatch:

Dear Faculty and Staff:

As incidents of security breaches and thefts of sensitive information are on the rise at college campuses and businesses across the country, Wake Forest must take precautions to prevent similar incidents from occurring on our campus. Sensitive information includes, but is not limited to, credit card information, social security numbers, and student records. Nearly all Wake Forest faculty and staff come in contact with or handle some form of information that is sensitive or confidential in the course of their day to day responsibilities, and it is imperative that this information be protected.

As part of its continuing information security campaign to protect sensitive personal information, Wake Forest has developed information security standards. These standards identify information such as Social Security Numbers that are required to be protected from unauthorized access by law, regulation or good business practices. The standards also provide a minimum baseline of security requirements to protect this sensitive information. The initial security standards are: 

  • Electronic Non-Public Information Standard – Identifies non-public information (NPI) and details basic security requirements such as encrypting the data
  • Security for Mobile Devices – Provides requirements for protecting data on smart phones and other mobile devices
  • WFU Standard for Internet Facing System – Provides technical and procedural guidance for websites and other systems accessible from the Internet
  • When to Engage Information Security – Provides guidance on when a department must include the Information Security department in a project or task.

Information Security has established a web site and I encourage you to review it. The web site http://infosec.wfu.edu/ contains general security information and http://infosec.wfu.edu/standards/ has the specific information related to standards. These web sites will be updated regularly with additional important information about security and new standards.

The success of our efforts depends on campus-wide support. Your commitment to safeguarding sensitive information is essential to our ability to serve our constituents and to ensuring the university’s reputation for excellence.

Thank you for your support.

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