Data security is the safeguarding of both physical and digital data against unauthorized access or destruction. It is a requirement of all businesses as it ensures that personal information is accessible to authorized users, and remains secure, private and untouched. It also assists in preventing the loss of critical information in the event of a cyberattack or a data breach. A good data protection program is an amalgamation of tools to ensure six key best practices:

Authentication is a must in any strategy to secure data. Whether your data are in transit or at rest it is essential to ensure that only authorized users are able to access the data using credentials, like encryption keys or passwords, or other methods of authentication, such as multi-factor identification (MFA) where the user has to provide more than one method of proof.

Organizations must keep track of their application data and know when sensitive information is placed in an unspecified state check here like “at rest,” “in transit,” or “in use.” This information is necessary to identify possible vulnerabilities and take appropriate action.

It isn’t easy for organizations to keep track of sensitive information as data collection grows. It is important to adhere to the principle of least privilige which states that only the data that users require to perform their duties must be made available. By limiting permissions to a minimum, you will improve your overall security posture and save on storage and bandwidth costs. The policy for data usage should also outline the way data is used and the consequences of any violations to the policy.