Data Security- Importance and Types for Businesses
By Oliver Smith on The Capital
Data security is a set of standards to protect data from any kind of exploitation or destruction. Data needs to be protected from any kind of modification or disclosure. A range of techniques can be employed to ensure data security including administrative controls, physical security, organizational standards, logical controls, and other safeguarding techniques. All these solutions are used to limit the access of unauthorized or malicious users to the precious data a company owns.
Importance of Data Security for Your Business
All the businesses today are dealing with huge data, one way or the other. Financial institutions and banks are dealing with massive data storing the details of their customers. So data is at play for any business either small or large. So it is the primary duty of any organization to protect the data they collect, store, create, transmit, or receive. Regulatory compliance is also a major consideration. Data must be protected regardless of how the data is being managed, stored, or collected. Data breaches can make any company fall for litigation cases and hefty amounts of fines along with drastic reputational loss. It is more important than ever to shield data from security threats due to the digitizing of the world.
Some Data Security Technologies
Data security comes in many forms and shapes to protect data from cyber threats. Many of these threats are from external resources but businesses need to safeguard their data internally as well by training their employees about cybersecurity. There are many ways one can protect their data which include:
Data encryption: Data encryption is when a code is given to every piece of data and access is denied to encrypted data if an authorized key is not given. This way data can be protected from every kind of unauthorized access.
Data masking: In this process, certain areas of data are masked to protect it from disclosure to external malicious sources. It also hinders any internal personnel who could potentially use the data. For instance, the first few digits of a credit card number may be masked to avoid any kind of breach.
Data Erasure: There should always be a system to erase data that is not needed anymore. For instance, if a customer requested their name removed from a mailing list, the details should be deleted permanently.
Data resilience: Organizations can recover data if they have backup copies of data in case it is erased or corrupted accidentally or stolen during a data breach.
It is possible to enforce a solid data security strategy without restricting employees or affecting productivity. To protect your most vulnerable data and to meet regulatory compliance data security stands vital. Whether you need to comply with GDPR regulations or protect your business where it counts, protecting your important data is crucial. If a company fails to protect the data of their customer it cannot build the client’s trust. In this world where cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and crimes like a data breach, phishing scams, and account takeovers are skyrocketing, businesses need to take proper preventive measures for data security.
