With so much data stored and processed by businesses today, it is pretty natural that data security is given an increased focus. Go on reading to find out what exactly this term means, why data security is essential, and more.

H2 What is data security?

Data security is the practice of shielding digital data against corruption, theft, or unauthorized access. Data security employs tools and technologies that safeguard data through encryption, data masking, and data erasure.

A robust data security platform can help organizations effectively protect their data from breaches, streamline auditing processes, and make it easier to comply with data protection regulations.

H2 Why is data security important?

First and foremost, data security is important from a legal point of view. Organizations are required to protect their customer and user data from getting into the wrong hands by a range of regulations, including:

●The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

●The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

●The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

●California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

In addition, data security plays a critical role in eliminating reputational risks associated with a data breach. Fair enough, since the loss of customer data can lead to customers losing trust in an organization.

Last but not least, data security can shield you from considerable financial losses. According to IBM and The Ponemon Institute, it was a whopping $3.86M for the average data breach in 2020.

H2 Data security technologies

There are several types of data security technologies, and it's best to combine some of them in your data security strategy.

H3 Data encryption

Encryption belongs to one of the most effective methods to keep data confidential. It uses algorithms to transform data into an indecipherable format that can be decoded only with an authorized key.

H3 Data erasure

Data erasure is a software-based overwriting method that destroys all digital data residing on a hard disk drive. Data erasure goes beyond basic file deletion that makes data recovery possible — it permanently removes all information.

H3 User authentication and authorization

To avert unauthorized users accessing sensitive data, organizations need to adopt reliable user authentication methods. The most secure methods are biometrics and built-in two-factor authentication.

H3 Data masking

Data masking, or data obfuscation, is the practice of hiding original data with the help of fake values. Its primary goal is to disguise sensitive personal data stored in proprietary databases. Still, this data should remain usable for other corporate activities such as testing and application development.

H3 Data backup

Data backup solutions help companies restore their data in case of a storage failure or disaster. This can be achieved through producing a copy of the data and storing it in a secure environment that can be accessed only by authorized administrators.

H3 Tokenization

Tokenization is very similar to encryption — it renders data unreadable. Still, instead of encoding data with the help of an algorithm with a further possibility to decrypt it, tokenization replaces that data with tokens — randomly generated alphanumeric strings that can't be decoded.

H2 Data security: best practices

A winning data security strategy is not solely about technology. It involves several aspects you need to focus on.

H3 1. Secure your data

It goes without saying that efficient data security starts with securely storing your data, both digitally and physically. Here are some critical steps to storing your data securely:

●restrict access to sensitive data — control who can have access to the data based on their user ID;

●implement encryption where possible to prevent hackers from using any information they might steal;

●protect user data — verify and secure their information with secure authentication practices.

H3 2. Ensure physical security

No matter your data is stored on-premises or in the cloud, it's vital to ensure that facilities are effectively protected against intruders and have climate controls in place. If you use cloud solutions for storing your data, your provider takes responsibility for these measures.

H3 3. Train your employees

Most widespread data security attacks (e. g. email phishing) target staff members unfamiliar with the potential data security risks. Given that, it's essential to educate your employees on effective security practices — it can play a crucial role in protecting your data in the long run.

H3 4. Test your systems

It's also worth running a series of tests to double-check your systems. For this, you can form an internal team or hire external specialists.

H3 5. Always have a recovery plan in place

Creating usable backup copies of your critical data and constantly updating them is a fundamental component of any data security strategy. The backup should also be protected and kept separately from the rest of your information.

H3 6. Take care of application security

All software must be updated to the latest versions after release — this is essential to keep your data secure.

H3 7. Perform compliance audits

As already mentioned, there are a few data security regulations you're obliged to follow. The regulations that apply to your organization will depend on your industry and location. You can either study all the rules to determine which you must comply with or entrust running your compliance audit to PCI DSS compliance services.

H2 Final thoughts

Without any doubt, data security is critical in the modern data-driven world. Having a viable data security strategy in place can go a long way toward effectively protecting an organization's customer and user data, staying compliant, and preventing financial losses associated with data breaches.

Data security is the practice of shielding digital data against corruption, theft, or unauthorized access. Data security employs tools and technologies that safeguard data through encryption, data masking, and data erasure.