Steps to Cleaning Data Found by Spider or IT SensorSweep Scans

When the Spider scan is done, the log should show up on your screen and will be linked to a desktop .txt icon.  When IT has scanned your machine, you will be provided with a results log.

The log will be a list of all the documents that the scan thinks may have SSN or credit card info.  It includes the entire directory path, such as:  C:\Documents and Settings\ your_user_name \My Documents\ etc.  (Replace your_user_name with your actual computer login name.) 

To clean your system, you should:

1. Look at the files in the log and determine which ones could be real SSN’s or which ones are false readings (i.e. had 9 or 16 digit # that it thought was an SSN or CC#, but really isn’t).  Spider sometimes logs many false readings (aka false positives).  Usually, the files you need to look at are in you’re My Documents directory or your Cookies directory. Help files and .exe (executable) files can mainly be ignored.
   
   [Note:  Meeting Maker on-line help files all show up in the Spider log as false positives.] 

2. Go into each suspicious file and see if the data is truly an SSN or CC#.
3. Remove SSN and Credit Card info from any file that had actual SSN or CC #s, and delete the file completely.  See Private Data Cleanup Quick Reference Table to determine what to do with data you need to keep.
4. Delete all non-system *.tmp files.  To do this, first exit out of any programs you are running.  Then go to Start, Search and enter *.tmp in the search box.  Perform the search, then select all the files in the Search Results window (Edit/Select All), then hit the delete key.  Keep selecting and deleting until all possible files have been deleted. Do not delete any file that tells you it is a system file when it asks if you really want to delete it.
5. Clear out your Internet temporary files and cookies. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, and select Delete from the Browsing History section.  Then select the types of files to delete.  At the least, select Temporary Internet Files and Cookies, because if you ever ordered anything on-line from this machine and gave your Credit-Card #, then it is most likely stored in either or both of these places. 
6. Deleting stored passwords is highly recommended, and may become mandatory, since unauthorized users could gain access to a program simply because your machine remembers the password for you.  Keep your passwords locked up in a separate, secure location.
7. Empty your Recycle Bin

If you need help with any of the steps above, please call Christine Dellacroce at x3211.