Guaranteed data security?

I’ve often struggled with the securing of passwords and data, both at the personal level, and at the level of the business networks I look after.

My own data is pretty secure, as I have not problem in keeping lists of password and accounts secret and secure, and following the simple not do pass any of them on to anyone – EVER. Same goes for any source that ever contacts me by any means possible. This never happen with a legitimate party, so these are disconnected, deleted, or ignored if they ever appear. Their mere existence is enough to warn that they are bogus, and phishing for the unwary.

Business systems are easier in some respects, as I’m the only person with top-level access, and control everone else’s access,  but it does have the responsibility problem, as I’m the only one that can maintain the systems concerned, but, there’s a surprising advantage that comes with that problem. Since no-one else accesses the systems, and only I allow all user access, there are no problems caused by unauthorised tampering, so barring system implosion, things actually work surprisingly well and smoothly. And anything unauthorised sticks out a mile, like the proverbial sore thumb.

That said, as systems grow, there is a need to act more responsibly, and while I’m not giving away any of my own solutions, the points in the following article is worth giving consideration:

When I’m dead, how will my loved ones break my password? Tales from the encrypt: If you care about the integrity of your data, it’s time to investigate solutions for accessing and securing it – and not just for the here and now.

(Considering how simple it is to secure things, you have to wonder how those charged and entrusted with handling and managing really sensitive data don’t appear to be able to do it. Maybe if they were simply fired whenever they were found to have failed, natural selection would make things better).