2. What is the big idea behind the 12/3 Identity Finder scan? The system-wide scan on 12/3 is intended to permanently remove all PII and anything looking like PII from all CCSU local hard drives. If data is removed during this scan, it cannot be recovered. PII is personally identifiable information. Other locations, like email accounts and network shares (M and S drives) are not part of the 12/3 scan. Longer term, we will need to deal with PII in these locations as well.

3. What is considered to be PII? For the purposes of the 12/3 scan, PII includes: 1.Social Security Numbers. 2.Credit Card Numbers. 3.Bank Account Numbers. 4.Driver’s License Numbers. The CCSU default set-up for Identity Finder looks for any pattern of numbers that looks like one of these.

4. Why should I scan my computer ahead of the 12/3 scan? You get to determine what happens to your data. The baseline scan(s) you run will do two nice things: 1.Identify PII on your machine, so that you can properly secure it. 2.Identify information on your machine that looks like PII but isn’t (false positives). You can remove it or tell the next scan to ignore it. False positives can be invoice numbers, SKU codes, or other patterns of numbers.

5. Which computers are affected? All CCSU-owned Windows and Mac machines in faculty and staff offices, both desktops and laptops. All shared computers in offices. – Will need to be scanned by all individual users. Teaching station computers in smart classrooms and computers in labs are not affected. – These do not allow users to save anything permanently to the hard drive.

6. Aren’t I allowed to have PII for research and records retention reasons? Yes, and you may well be required to retain these records for a period of time. But you do need to secure this information. – Your computer’s hard drive is not a good place. A secure network share is the best place to store it. – Information Technology has a form for you to request a secure share.

7. What must I do before 12/3? Scan every CCSU-owned computer you use, or that you suspect may have PII on it. Shared computers will need to be scanned by each individual user. Do the default scan that covers the computer hard drive and your CCSU email, as a baseline. Identity Finder guides for both Windows and Mac computers are available on the IT Department Identity Finder webpage.

8. What if I find PII or false positives on my computer? If you get a hit on your CCSU email account: You must either choose the Shred option (to permanently remove it) or delete the email yourself. The program will not offer you any other options. Alternatively, you can place the emails in a separate folder, and archive the folder to your hard drive or network share. – The program will then allow you to choose from the other options.

9. What if I find PII or false positives on my computer? If you get a hit on your hard drive: Shred: Permanently remove. Scrub: Redact the PII, but retain the other data. Ignore: Mark the item so that future scans will ignore it. This is fine for false positives, but not for PII. Manually move information to a secure share. Quarantine option is not available to us at this point.

10. I’m confused and I don’t know what to do next. Help! Information Technology will be glad to help. Call the Help Desk. Consult the IT Identity Finder webpage.