Secure Data Handling Policy

Version 1.4

For Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Alumni

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure the protection of the University’s IT Resources against unauthorized use, accidental or malicious damage, and theft.

Scope

This IT policy, and all policies referenced herein, shall apply to all members of the University community, including faculty, students, administrative officials, staff, alumni, authorized guests, delegates, and independent contractors (the “User(s)” or “you”) who use, access, or otherwise employ, locally or remotely, the University’s IT Resources, whether individually controlled, shared, stand-alone, or networked.

Policy Statement

Fordham Protected data, Fordham Sensitive data, or Public data must be stored or transmitted per the Data Classification Guidelines, Data at Rest Policy, or the Data in Transit Policy .
Protection¹measures must be taken and maintained to prevent unauthorized or unlawful disclosure of University data. Protection measures are based on data classification and include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Physical access control (e.g., controlled access to buildings, rooms, data centers, storage, and media disposal).
- Technical control (e.g., configurations, administrative access (e.g., restrict access based on role or authority).

¹ Policy scenario example: Payment Card Industry (PCI) data viewed/maintained by University personnel (e.g., faculty, staff) needs to be secured physically (physical access control) by storing in locked cabinets. Access to IT Resources containing PCI data is password-protected (administrative access control). A separate sub-set of Fordham’s main network is used to store PCI data (technical access control).

Definitions

IT Resources include computing, networking, communications, application, telecommunications systems, infrastructure, hardware, software, data, databases, personnel, procedures, physical facilities, cloud-based vendors, Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors, and any related materials and services.

Related Policies and Procedures

Implementation Information

Review Frequency:	Annual
Responsible Person:	Senior Director, IT Security Operations and Assurance
Approved By:	CISO
Approval Date:	May 16, 2017

Revision History

Version	Date	Description
1.0	05/16/2017	Initial document
1.0.1	01/09/2019	Updated policy statement
1.2	07/13/2020	Updated policy statement
1.3	07/26/2021	Updated links
1.4	08/01/2022	Updated policy statement

Policy Disclaimer Statement

Deviations from policies, procedures, or guidelines published and approved by Information Security and Assurance (ISA) may only be done cooperatively between ISA and the requesting entity with sufficient time to allow for appropriate risk analysis, documentation, and possible presentation to authorized University representatives. Failure to adhere to ISA written policies may be met with University sanctions.