Since UNC-Chapel Hill launched the Sensitive Information Remediation Project last year, the campus community has demonstrated an exceptional collaborative spirit in scanning, finding, deleting and/or securing sensitive information on University computers.
Matt Heinze, an information security specialist with Information Technology Services, is the team leader and self-described ambassador of this Project SIR effort. He spends much of his time reaching out to and visiting with University departments that want to partner with ITS on Project Sir. “We spend a lot of time working together to get them scanning and in the program,” he said.
ISLs serve significant role in Project SIR
Campus information security liaisons, the people known as ISLs who work in departments outside of ITS, are the point of contact for matters related to information security. “The ISLs play a very important role with Project SIR,” Heinze said, “because they are the point of contact for the project initiation and also for the follow-up reporting that we provide.”
Project will include every computer on campus
Heinze is enjoying all this outreach and collaboration involved with Project SIR. “It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “There’s a lot of outreach involved in this project and there has to be. It’s a really big project. It’s so big that it’s going to touch every single computer on campus. And there’s no way that I can do that alone. So I need help. And that’s where the ISLs come in and where department leadership comes in and so we partner together.”
“The thing I like about it it’s completely different,” Heinze said of his work on Project SIR. “I get to be in front of people and I still get to do technical work, and I know I’m doing work that’s important to the university”
Rethinking information storage practices
The greatest impact that will come from Project SIR is a behavioral shift. “What we need to do with this project is change the way people think about how they keep information and In particular sensitive information,” he said. “If there’s no business use for keeping that information, then get rid of it. If there is we’ll make sure it’s stored in an appropriate location.”
Check back soon with ITS News for a story and video with Chief Information Security Officer Kevin Lanning, who will provide insights into the Security Office’s diligent efforts to protect the University’s sensitive information.