Published Paper Details:

Organizational critical data is essential for her core operations and stability of financial operations. Maintaining security of critical data in organizations has been scholarly and industrially emphasized in many cases. Nevertheless, studies focusing on highlighting university critical data and implementation of the key elements of the data security in institutions of higher learning is still inadequate. This study was conducted within computing context of universities in Kenya, where it aimed at investigating the critical data and the levels of implementation of key aspects of data security. Questionnaires were used for data collection from staff members who were mainly sectional heads of user departments and information systems administrators. The data analysis produced statistical values needed to address the study objectives. Results showed that academic and financal related data were considered as critical data in the university. Furthermore, it was found that many universities have fairly implemented vital aspects of data security. However, in some universities, data security practices were found to be inadequate. For example, use of portable external storage devices to tranfer files between computers and malware menace. Therefore, it is recommended that universities ought to ensure security practices for critical data for better information systems security management. The study also recommends that IT security policies should include critical data security for a given organization.