Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 191: To ask the Taoiseach the measures or policies that have been implemented to prevent loss of private data from laptops, blackberries and other hand-held devices in his Department; if he has satisfied himself that all personal information held within his Department is secure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35676/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Personal information belonging to members of the public is not generally collected by, or stored, in the Department's electronic systems. There are, however, a number of specific measures in place in my Department to protect all data which is held electronically on portable devices:

All staff in my Department are issued with a copy of the Policy on IT Usage;

All staff who have been approved to use mobile equipment by my Department are issued with guidance to ensure devices are secured properly;

The hard drives of all laptops provided by my Department are encrypted;

Where USB keys are issued to staff members, the policy is that these devices too are encrypted;

No Departmental data is stored locally on laptops issued to staff; and

Strong authentication methods, in addition to username and password, are in place to prevent unauthorised access to the Department's network from mobile devices;

My Department applies best practice and uses industry standard information security protection devices and software to protect all data within its systems. My Department regularly reviews and updates these security procedures, policies and products as a matter of course.