A case study of how Jesus College, part of the University of Cambridge, sought to control its data access and permissions and to enable regulatory compliance.
Knowing who is accessing which piece of data is critical, to avoid loss, according to the college. Susan Webb, Records and Information Manager at Jesus College, said: “Before Varonis, we had no real day-to-day view of what was happening with the data on the file servers. We can’t afford to spend a lot of time sifting through logs – we must stay focused on the day-to-day mission of the College – so we needed a more efficient approach,” said .
Jesus needs to ensure that only the right employees have access to the appropriate data that is needed, to do their jobs.
“One staff member moved from a role where she had access to lots of personal data to a less sensitive area. Her permissions were extremely complex and they needed to be amended when she moved roles. I couldn’t have done this without Varonis DatAdvantage, as it helped me to see those areas where permissions were not required for her new job,” added Webb.
With a small IT team, the college wanted to be able to spend as little time as possible on getting a complete security picture without having to trawl through logs. The college is subject to the UK’s Freedom of Information and the Data Protection Acts; and must be able to prove that all data is kept secure.
“For the Freedom of Information Act, and Freedom of Information requests, we must ensure that we have proper control of our data. The Data Protection Act means that we have a duty to keep all personal data secure and up to date. If we don’t, we could be fined for non-compliance. With the new EU General Data Protection Regulation likely to be implemented soon, this will become even more important,” said Webb. “I find Varonis DatAdvantage so useful. Better management of the College’s data is a priority. DatAdvantage enables me to see what is going on within our file servers.”
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