Digital Transformation is reshaping how companies operate nowadays. As more businesses integrate technology into their daily operations, they accumulate and store more data in their systems. With cyber threats evolving rapidly, the need to protect business data — including intellectual properties and client information — should be one of the priorities of businesses.
Here are the six foundations of good data security:
1. Governance
Everything starts and ends with governance. A well-defined governance framework sets the stage for effective data protection.
1.1 Policy
A good governance framework should have solid data security policies in place. Policy tells us how we want to protect information, outlining how various types of data will be protected based on their level of sensitivity. For example, if one set of data has this level of sensitivity, then there should be policies on how much protection it needs to have.
1.2 Classification
Not all data is created equal. Classification enables you to categorize data based on its importance and sensitivity. It could be unclassified, for internal use only, or even confidential, etc. With a well-defined data classification, we can then determine the appropriate security measures to be applied.
1.3 Catalog
Building upon classification, cataloging is the systematic organization of vital data. A centralized catalog helps map out where your critical information is.
1.4 Resilience Planning
Data is not immune to loss or compromise. As part of governance, you also need to identify and come up with a plan to recover data in case of data loss. Ask yourself, “Once the data is gone, what plans do I have in place to address that?”
2. Discovery
You need to be able to see where all the information is.
While the governance framework serves as the plan, you also need to be aware of where all this data is located. It could be stored in a database or files. Looking into your network is also vital, as sensitive information since sometimes sensitive information might sometimes be circulating, going in and out of your network.
3. Protection
Protection primarily focuses on how you’re going to protect your data. With cyber threats lurking around, a multi-faceted approach is essential.
3.1 Encryption
Encryption makes data unreadable to unauthorized entities. What you want is that if information leaks out of your organization, malicious actors will have a hard time reading or comprehending it. A good encryption ensures that even in the event of data breaches, the information remains unintelligible.
3.2 Key Management
Having a good key management system is crucial. It should generate keys securely and randomly, store them safely, and notify you when key rotation or replacement is needed.
3.3 Access Controls
Access controls determine who can view, edit, or share sensitive information and who cannot. Multi-factor authorization is a significant part of access controls.
3.4 Backup
Data loss can be catastrophic. You need a backup solution that allows you to securely store copies of your data and recover it when needed. Regular backups serve as a safety net, enabling swift data recovery during unforeseen events.
4. Compliance
Once you have protective measures in place, you need to make sure that you will comply. You can establish internal regulations and may also need to adhere to governmental and industry regulations.
4.1 Reporting
Reporting on these regulations is essential to demonstrate to auditors that you have fulfilled your commitments. You’ll need to log information and be able to generate comprehensive reports from that.
4.2. Retention
While keeping all information may seem beneficial, it also increases organizational risks. It’s best to dispose of information when it is no longer needed. You should create a policy and ensure its enforcement. Specify the duration for which you need to retain records and the point at which you need to get rid of it.
5. Detection
You need to be able to detect Is anyone using the data or misusing it in ways I didn’t anticipate? A monitoring capability is crucial to notify you when this is the case. You might also consider User Behavior Analytics, a technology that detects when users are employing data in unexpected and abnormal ways.
Another approach is through analytics, which provides an alternative method for this type of analysis. It sends alerts and triggers actions when a violation has occurred or is suspected.
6. Respond
Responding means having the ability to create cases and assign them to individuals for investigation.
6.1 Dynamic playbooks
Dynamic playbooks guide analysts through the necessary steps based on the current stage and expected outcome. It’s dynamic in the sense that your actions will ultimately depend on what occurred in the previous step.
6.2 Orchestration
While we’d love to automate everything, some situations are unique. So, we need to orchestrate responses for these “one-of-a-kind scenarios.”
Conclusion
In the end, it’s like building a well-functioning system. Think of it as a cycle, where information moves from one stage to the next. As we learn from mistakes, our policies can get better. It’s a continuous journey of analyzing and improving.
To keep your data safe, you need a structured approach, a holistic view, and the right tools. You’ll need someone who understands and can put the right data components in place , using the appropriate technologies, and have them all integrated.
