University faculty and staff work with a variety of information, some of which is considered Personally Identifiable Information (PII), on a daily basis. Some good examples of PII are social security numbers and credit card data. This information can get saved to your computer and over time can make you a target for identity theft. Identity Finder software is designed to address this vulnerability.
Arkansas State ITS department provides Identity Finder, which is a security software that allows faculty and staff to run comprehensive searches on university computers to locate PII and safely remove it when it's no longer being used, or secure it when it needs to be retained. ITS has setup Identity Finder to run weekly searches to ensure that computers and users are not saving unnecessary PII and to help prevent identity theft. If you have any questions regarding the Identity Finder software, or would like to schedule departmental training to start utilizing Identity Finder, contact the help desk at 870.972.3933 or onlinehelp@astate.edu.
Follow the instructions below for installing and using Identity Finder on Windows PC or Mac.
Tips for Using Identity Finder
- By default, Identity Finder will scan your entire computer including any attached external drives, portable flash drives, e-mail, and web browser saved data scanning for SSN and CCN. Also, Identity Finder for windows will automatically run a scan when an external drive is plugged into the computer.
- Scans can take several hours if you have a large number of documents.
- If you leave your computer unattended during the scan, you might have to change your power settings so your computer will not go to sleep.
- DO NOT FORGET YOUR PROFILE PASSWORD, passwords in Identity Finder are not recoverable, and any documents secured with a forgotten password are also not recoverable.
Windows
- Download Identity Finder at www.astate.edu/a/its/software-downloads/. Log in with your ASU e-mail address and password. Download Identity Finder for Windows – Documentation and Identity Finder for Windows installer and save them to your desktop. Double-click the file to run the installation. The documentation has step-by-step installation instructions.
- Connect or insert any external storage devices (e.g., external hard drives, thumb drives) to search in addition to your computer's hard drive. Disconnect any storage devices that you do not want Identity Finder to search.
- Open Identity Finder from All Programs in the Start menu.
- Login using your profile password, and Click the Start Scan button.
- The Identity Finder software defaults to search entire computer plus e-mail and web browser saved data for SSN and CCN. Additional search items can be selected under the Identities tab.
- After the scan is finished on the "Search Summary" window, click Advanced button to view your results and choose the best actions to protect any PII.
Mac OS X
- Download the Mac OS X edition of Identity Finder located at www.astate.edu/a/its/software-downloads/. Log in with your ASU e-mail address and password. Download Identity Finder for Macintosh installer and Identity Finder for Macintosh – Documentation for step-by-step installation instructions.
- Connect or insert any external storage devices (e.g., external hard drives, thumb drives) to search in addition to your computer's hard drive. Disconnect any storage devices that you do not want Identity Finder to search.
- Launch the Identity Finder setup. The documentation has step-by-step installation instructions.
- Drag the Identity Finder icon to the Applications folder and close the installer window.
- Open Identity Finder from your Applications menu.
- Login using your profile password, and Click the Search button.
- After the scan is finished, review your results and choose the best actions to protect any PII.
For more information about Identity Finder you can download detailed instructions for Windows or Mac.
Download installers for both Windows and MAC at www.astate.edu/a/its/software-downloads.
FAQ
Can I recover my Identity Finder password?
No, these passwords are not saved anywhere, so ITS can not recover or change your password. If you have forgotten your password for identity Finder software a new profile will need to be created.
Can I view a secure document if I forgot my password?
No, if you secured a file and have forgotten your password, you will not be able to recover the document. So it is important to have your password in a secure, locked location in case you forget what it is.
Can shredded files be recovered?
No, once you shred a file it is permanently removed from your system.
Can I secure an email containing PII?
Not really. If you use the secure option on your email it passwords your email account, messages and attachments cannot be secured individually. Next time you open Microsoft Outlook, it will prompt you for the password you entered via Identity Finder before letting you view your e-mail, so emails never truly get encrypted. If you forget your password, you will not be able to view your E-Mail, and setting a password for your email is not very secure. For greater security, you should use the Shred feature to remove any E-Mail messages that contain PII.
