Designing FERPA Technical Safeguards

Overview

Imagine you are an information security consultant for a small college registrar’s office consisting of the registrar and two assistant registrars, two student workers, and a receptionist. The office is near several other office spaces. The assistant registrars access student records stored on a server in the building via mobile devices over a wireless network. Additionally, each registrar’s office has a networked desktop computer to access the server and electronic student records. The receptionist station has a desktop computer with access to student records for scheduling appointments.

In 1974, Congress enacted the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to help protect the integrity of student records. The college has hired you to ensure technical safeguards are appropriately designed to preserve the integrity of the student records maintained in the registrar’s office.

Instructions

Write a 3–5 page paper in which you:

1. Analyze proper physical access control safeguards and provide sound recommendations to be employed in the registrar’s office.
2. Recommend the proper audit controls to be employed in the registrar’s office.
3. Suggest three logical access control methods to restrict unauthorized entities from accessing sensitive information and explain why you suggested each method.
4. Analyze the means by which data moves in the organization and identify techniques to provide transmission security safeguards.
5. Use at least three quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as quality resources.

This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Recommend technical security safeguards to protect private information.