Data is the lifeblood of every business, allowing companies to function efficiently and profitably. Businesses must strike a balance between the need to collect a lot of data and the need to protect and keep private customer information. The GDPR in Europe and California’s CCPA are a major factor in this, as are long-standing laws 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 to ensure the security of your data is to catalogue and protect all of your data. This involves identifying, categorizing and determining access levels for your data by its sensitiveness. It is crucial to implement policies that safeguard data regardless of whether it’s in transit or in its rest. Utilizing a system that detects and monitors file activity and identify anomalous patterns can help you recognize suspicious activity and quickly identify and address vulnerabilities, including incompatible software and misconfigurations.
A comprehensive plan for recovery and backup that incorporates physical storage media is essential. It is also essential to ensure that security measures are effective that include background checks on new hires, and regular training for existing employees to the decision to terminate employees who no longer need access to critical systems. In addition, it’s essential to develop a disaster-recovery plan to ensure that your data is protected in the event of a natural or human-caused catastrophe.