DEARBORN - There is a continued need for Ford employees to protect information that has been determined confidential or personally identifiable.

As a reminder, the following Digital Worker tools and best practices are recommended to ensure data management and security when sharing data both inside and outside of the company. 

Private meetings and encrypted email
Microsoft Outlook is Ford's standard email tool. Please visit the email “How do I …” page for general information, support and helpful tips. 

When using Outlook, ensure that data is secured by marking meetings as private and using security certificates and encryption. 

For confidential meetings, please mark as “private” when scheduling. This will ensure that the details of your meeting are only viewable to those invited. Documents should not be attached to meeting invitations, even those marked as private. These materials should be distributed separately using encryption to ensure that only appropriate parties may access.  

Adding security certificates and encrypting email are similar to sending your message via certified postal mail – you can be sure that only the intended recipient will be able to view the message.

Sharing your information with others
SharePoint is Ford’s online data sharing tool of choice. Access the SharePoint “How do I …” page for security related tips, general information, troubleshooting and support. 

Here are some general security and awareness practices to keep in mind when using SharePoint: 
1. Adhere to all Security and Controls policies as defined in the Information Technology Policy Manual (ITPM):  IT Policy Manual (ITPM). 
2. Design and use SharePoint sites as provided, without customization. This ensures that security and permissions may be set-up appropriately.  SharePoint templates and web parts not provided as part of SharePoint’s general capabilities within Ford present a security and controls risk. 

3. Immediately notify the Ford SharePoint team of any known security breaches by submitting a ticket to the Help Desk.  

Online data conferencing
When hosting an online data conference (also called a Web conference), Ford's tool of choice is WebEx. For additional details on WebEx and its capabilities, refer to the WebEx “How do I …” page. 

To secure your meeting, please follow these steps:

Preventing unauthorized access to a meeting in progress: Once all required or invited attendees have joined a meeting, you may “lock” the meeting by restricting access to it. Restricting access to a meeting prevents anyone else from joining it. To lock a meeting, choose Restrict Access on the meeting menu.

Require a password: If you specify a password for the meeting, attendees must provide this password to join the meeting. To further ensure that only the appropriate parties attend, take a roll-call on audio and monitor the WebEx participant list.    

Click here for more information on steps to secure a WebEx meeting.  

Audio conferencing
All audio conferencing should use Cisco’s MeetingPlace service. Click here for more details, instructions and support for Audio Conferencing. 

To ensure the security of your audio conference, please follow these tips:

Press #41 after everyone has joined the call to "lock" the meeting: Once the meeting is locked, no one, including the Operator, can join the meeting. If the conference is locked and you need the Operator, press #41, then #0 to reach an Operator.

Press #2 to perform a roll call and verify the participants when the meeting begins: If you hear additional beeps after the conference has begun, ask who has joined the call.   

Click here for additional tips to secure an audio conference. 

For information regarding Security policy and controls, please visit the IT Security and Controls website. 

For details on additional Digital Worker products and services, please visit the Digital Worker website.