In 2007 Purdue University Calumet underwent an audit by the Purdue Internal Audit Office. As a result of this audit, the University was asked to scan for, and remove all instances of Social Security Numbers from all computers owned by the university. This directive was made to comply with Purdue University policies which are driven by Federal and State laws regarding the protection of Social Security Numbers.
In order to comply with this directive, all computers owned by the University as well as any computers used on the University’s network for business purposes, are required to have Identity Finder software installed and scans run for Social Security Numbers (SSN) on a regular basis. To complete this directive, all computers that contain SSN data must have this data removed in a manner that prevents the data from being read in the future. The removal is to be performed by the end user using the Identity Finder software. Identity Finder is a software application program that scans the files on computers and identifies documents that might contain Social Security or Credit Card numbers. As part of the Purdue system effort to comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, we have also added credit card number scanning capability to IDF.
Information Services is in the process of deploying a new version of Identity Finder (IDF) to all computers that are within the scope of this directive.
The software will install silently. The next time a user restarts their computer, the software will begin scanning in the background. Once the scans are completed, an IDF results box will appear display a list of documents that might possibly have SSN’s or credit card numbers in them. Users will then need to resolve these issues by removing, deleting, or encrypting any files that are deemed to have SSN’s or credit card numbers in them.
Identity Finder will automatically scan computers once a month.
Anyone needing help running IDF please call the Customer Service Center at X2888.
For advice on file resolution, please contact via e-mail the Assistant Director for Information Security and Assurance.
For information on the Purdue Calumet Social Security Number Policy, visit PUC Security website.
Filed under Information Services News.
