7 Ways to Practice Data Security
In our digital age, data is as valuable as physical currency. Almost every online interaction uses our information to some extent, therefore, both businesses and users must take steps to protect digital information and practice data security. Preventing the theft and misuse of data can be accomplished by implementing simple data security practices into your regular processes. Ransomware events are happening at an increasing rate to all business verticals, sometimes crippling the business. Data security is the only way to combat these trends.
Identify Sensitive Data
While protecting all kinds of data is important, not all data holds the same amount of value to those that would try to take it. For example, credit card information would often be seen as more sensitive than data that is publicly available. As such, it is essential to identify the level of sensitivity for the data that is being collected and establish data security measures that will adequately protect the data of that level.
Implement a Data Usage Policy
Once a process for identifying and classifying data has been established, you will want to create a policy that dictates how the collected data will be used. A data usage policy is an essential piece of any data security strategy. Guidelines for who can access what data based upon the data classification, use, user awareness, and employee rights, must be established. Without a data usage policy, users will be unprepared to deal with data privacy decisions and susceptible to attacks, both of which increase the risk to the business and user. Many countries now have detailed privacy regulations with huge penalties for those firms in violation of the data privacy laws in the country.
Control Access to Data
The data usage policy should specifically state the access level that each member of the company can read, write, or have any access to. Personnel should only have access to the minimum amount of data that is required for them to perform their duties. Establishing specific permissions for each team member and what they can do with the data and related retention policies will help information stay secure, unaltered, or corrupted.
Implement Data Security and Encryption
Data encryption is probably one of the most essential pieces of data security. Due to the amount of data that is transmitted every day, all of it must have protection from viruses, theft, or corruption. Whether the information is personal or for business, it should all pass through data encryption software so that it remains secure. Based on the information being transmitted and its sensitivity level, it will be important to choose the data encryption method that will properly protect your information. In addition, proper encrypting of data to not cause severe impact to applications and users of the data must be incorporated into data encryption goals, policies, and implementation.
Perform Vulnerability and Penetration Tests
As technology is ever-growing, data security practices must grow with them. To grow, we must know the areas where we are lacking or vulnerable. Performing regular vulnerability and penetration tests can help a company understand where their data may be at risk. Once these risks have been identified, business owners will want to update their practices in order to ensure that all sensitive personal information is safe when it is at rest or in motion.
Integrate Data Privacy into Everyday Process
Every data input point, type of data being captured, retained, and who has access to it must be understood. Change Control, Architecture Committee, Service, Support, NOC processes must address data security and privacy. A full review of these processes needs to be updated and integrated into the data protection process.
Develop Your Data Security Practices
Every day there are new developments that can pose a threat to data security. As such, it is essential that the practices being used to protect information develop as well. At Aliado Solutions, our team is here to help you with that development. With extensive expertise in cybersecurity and business management, we provide clients with the information and direction to help them optimize their data security practices. Contact us today and see how Aliado Solutions can make a difference in how you protect data.
