Data security is the combination of procedures, policies, and technologies that safeguard data from unauthorised access or manipulation. Secure data security also protects valuable information and ensures that it is properly destroyed after the organization no longer requires it. It also assists organizations in meeting the legal and compliance requirements such as data protection regulations like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA and PCI DSS, and prevents costly lawsuits, settlements and reputational damage resulting from malicious or unintentional actions, such as employee mistakes and ransomware attacks.
Authentication is the process of identifying a person prior to the time they can gain access to or manipulate data. This typically includes using passwords or PIN numbers, swipe cards, biometrics and other methods to verify identities prior to giving access. It also requires keeping records of all user activity and creating controls to limit who is able to view and/or share data, and to identify and monitor unusual or suspicious actions that could indicate an intrusion.
The classification of data enables organizations to prioritize and organize information based on its level of importance. It is essential to recognize the kinds of data you collect and only use what’s essential to your business operations and goals. It’s equally essential to have a clearly defined strategy to ensure that you are able to access and retrieve data in the event of a system failure such as natural disasters or a data breach. This usually means keeping full backups, both differential and incremental of critical data in locations physically distinct from your original storage device and networking.