Case study: Encryption helps keep Reflect.com data safe

In addition to the strict policy against selling, trading, bartering, or otherwise sharing the information customers divulge in the lengthy questionnaires they fill out at the site, Reflect.com has technological security devices in place.

Reflect.com uses the SSL protocol to encrypt all login, registration, and financial transactions, says Jonathan Grayson, Reflect.com's vice president of engineering. In addition, some of the data stored in the data mart is encrypted and access to all data is strictly monitored.

The recent Code Red worm did not affect Reflect.com because Grayson has a team devoted to making sure that all available software patches, upgrades, and alterations are made as soon as they are available. That way, the programs the company uses remain completely up-to-date and totally compliant. In addition, Proctor & Gamble, Reflect.com's parent company, audits the site regularly to make sure that nothing unrelated to the business is being run on the company's essential servers. It also makes sure that the company maintains appropriate security measures regarding who has access to those servers.

Lisa Napell Dicksteen is president of LMN Editorial, which handles writing and editing as well as marketing and public relations consulting.