Data is the lifeblood of any business, allowing companies to function efficiently and profitably. Companies must balance the need to collect a lot of data and the need to secure and protect customer data. The GDPR in Europe and California’s CCPA are driving this concern along with long-standing law like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Securities and Exchange Commission rules which protect financial information of shareholders and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
The first step in ensuring the security of your data is to catalogue and protect all your data. This includes identifying and classifying data according to its sensitivity level, and determining access levels. It is crucial to implement guidelines to protect data whether it is in transit or in its rest. Using a solution to detect and monitor activity in your files and spot anomalous patterns will help you spot suspicious activity and quickly identify and minimize vulnerabilities like out-of-date or incompatible software.
Then, a comprehensive backup and recovery strategy that incorporates physical storage media is vital. Additionally, it is essential to implement appropriate security measures including background checks for new hires, and regular training for employees who are already employed to terminating employees who no longer need access to critical systems. It’s also crucial to create an emergency plan for recovery in the event of natural disasters or a man-made one.
