It is the year anniversary of the Hertfordshire County Council incident, where they committed the first of two serious breaches of the Data Protection Act.

They were charged with losing an unencrypted laptop and speaking about a sensitive incident to a member of the public.

Most agencies will give their staff Smartphones and laptops, but it is imperative that Companies make sure they know where their data is at all times.

Three top tips from Conseal security include:

1. Use traceable media: In the event a storage device containing important or sensitive data is lost or stolen, ensure the device can be tracked and deactivated to remove the risk to the organisation
2. Never send unencrypted storage devices through the post: The infamous HMRC data loss has underlined what can happen when data goes astray in transit, and similar incidents have happened since
3. Ensure only the right people have access to data: Strict access controls can ensure that only the right people are authorised to access data sources and copy sensitive files, minimising the risk of malicious or unintended data loss.