Data security is the protection of both physical and digital data against the unauthorized access or destruction. It is a must for every company, as it ensures that personal data is available to authorized users, and remains safe, confidential and secure. It also helps prevent the loss or compromise of vital information in the case of a cyberattack. A reliable data security program is a combination of tools that will ensure these six essential best practices:
Authentication and authorization are critical to any data security plan. If your data is at either in transit or at rest it is essential to ensure that only authorized users are able to access it by using credentials (e.g., passwords, encryption keys) or other methods of identification such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), which requires users to provide more than one form of proof.
The company should be able to identify its application data and be aware of the time when sensitive data is in a particular state such as “at rest”, “in transit” or “in use”.
It can be challenging for companies to keep track of sensitive information as data collection grows. This is the reason it’s essential to follow the principle of least privilege, which requires that users be given only the information they need for their job. By cutting down on the number of permissions, you can increase security while reducing storage and bandwidth costs. Your policy on data usage must also specify the way data is used and the consequences for any policy violations.