Data is the lifeblood of every business, allowing it to function efficiently and profitably. Businesses must balance the requirement to have a lot of data with the obligation to safeguard and secure customer information. The GDPR in Europe and California’s CCPA are driving this concern as well as long-standing laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Securities and Exchange Commission rules which protect financial data of shareholders and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
The first step in ensuring security of your data is to categorize and safeguard all of your data. This involves identifying, classifying and determining the access levels of your data in accordance with its sensitivity. It is also crucial to create a security policy which protects data regardless of whether it is in motion or at rest. Using a software that monitors and detects data activity and detect suspicious patterns can help you recognize suspicious activity and quickly spot and address vulnerabilities, including outdated software and configurations.
Then, a comprehensive backup and recovery strategy that includes physical storage media is essential. Last but not least it is essential to enforce meaningful measures of security, from background checks for new hires to regular training for existing employees, to terminating employees who no more require access to critical systems. In addition, it’s essential to establish a disaster recovery plan to ensure that your data is secure in the event of a natural or human-caused disaster.