Though stringent measures have been taken to secure the information pertaining to federal government employees, lapses often take place and vital information is leaked either inadvertently or due to a laxity in vigilance. The result is that vital data about federal employees finds its way into the pages of popular websites and newspapers.

These cases come to the notice of vigilant public viewers, who then report these lapses to the press. This proves to be extremely embarrassing for the concerned department, not to mention the damage that the leaked data causes.

Data leakage is not entirely caused by hackers. Sometimes, the lapses may be due to the carelessness or the negligence of the concerned department. Take the example of the social security number, which is issued to all citizens of the USA. A social security number is well-guarded and precious personal information, which can be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. Yet this lapse occurred by none other than the US Department of Justice, which inadvertently published social security numbers on its website. When the blunder was brought to the notice of the department, it admitted its mistake and removed the numbers, but this example shows that all data leakage is not just the prerogative of hackers alone, and organizations, too, have to be vigilant and alert. The point is that though departments take all possible measures to reduce such lapses, they do occur. This may be due to the absent-mindedness of the employees, or the careless handling of back-up tapes.

One way to secure data is to get it encrypted. Yet many organizations do not adopt this measure because of the high costs involved in data encryption. Also, the process of data encryption is very complex.

Before adopting new security measures, organizations should conduct a test run to ensure that there are no loopholes. Also, employees who have to handle data transmission should be adequately trained so that lapses do not occur.