Web Development Austin, SEO Austin, Austin Search Engine Marketing, Internet Marketing Austin, Web Design Austin, Roundrock Web Design, IT Support Central Texas, Social Media Central Texas

Tag: Data Security Page 1 of 5

Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Strategies For Preventing The Loss Or Theft Of Sensitive Data

Data loss prevention (DLP) is a critical process that organizations must adopt to safeguard sensitive data from being lost or stolen. Sensitive data, such as financial records, personal data, and intellectual property, are valuable assets that, if compromised, can have major repercussions for the organization.

Strategies that organizations can use to prevent the loss or theft of sensitive data include:

Identify Sensitive Data

The first step in preventing data loss is identifying sensitive data. Organizations should conduct a thorough assessment of their data assets to determine the types of sensitive data that they possess. This includes personally identifiable information (PII), payment card information (PCI), and protected health information (PHI). Once identified, this sensitive data can be protected with appropriate controls.

Implement Access Controls

Implementing access controls is an essential step in preventing data loss. Access controls limit access to sensitive data to only authorized personnel. Access controls can be implemented through user accounts and password policies, as well as other techniques such as role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and biometric authentication.

Encrypt Sensitive Data

Encrypting sensitive data is a critical step in preventing data loss. Encryption converts sensitive data into a code that can only be deciphered with a key. Even if an attacker gains access to the encrypted data, they will not be able to read it without the encryption key. Encryption should be used for data at rest and data in transit.

Monitor Data Access and Usage

Monitoring data access and usage is an important step in preventing data loss. Organizations should implement security information and event management (SIEM) tools to monitor data access and usage. These tools can detect anomalous activity, such as data exfiltration, and alert security teams in real-time.

Implement Data Backup and Recovery

Implementing data backup and recovery is essential for preventing data loss. Regular data backups ensure that even if data is lost or stolen, it can be recovered. Organizations should implement a backup strategy that includes both onsite and offsite backups. The data backup strategy should also include a disaster recovery plan that outlines the steps to be taken in the event of a data loss incident.

Educate Employees

Employee education is a crucial step in preventing data loss. Employees should be educated on the importance of data security and the consequences of data loss. Employees should also be trained on how to identify and report security incidents.

Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools are essential for preventing data loss. DLP tools can detect sensitive data and prevent it from leaving the organization. DLP tools can be used to monitor data usage, detect anomalous activity, and prevent data exfiltration.

Implement Security Policies and Procedures

Organizations should implement security policies and procedures to ensure that all employees follow best practices for data security. Security policies should include password policies, access control policies, and data classification policies. Security procedures should include incident response procedures, disaster recovery procedures, and data backup procedures.

For more information on how to protect your computer network systems and devices, contact Centex Technologies at Killeen (254) 213 – 4740, Dallas (972) 375 – 9654, Atlanta (404) 994 – 5074, and Austin (512) 956 – 5454.

 

What is Data Masking & How To Implement It?

A data breach is one of the most common cyber attacks experienced by organizations. A data breach costs the loss of finances, reputation, and credibility to the organization. As per a survey, in 2021 average data breach costs was $4.35 million, which was a 12.7% increase from 2020.

Such an increase in the number of data breaches has made it essential for organizations to implement data security strategies such as data masking.

What Is Data Masking?

Data masking can be defined as the process of masking the original data and creating its replica by using different characters and symbols. The replica of the data is similar in structure and format to the original data; however, the data values are different.

Types of data that can be protected using data masking include:

  • Personally Identifiable Information
  • Protected Health Information
  • Credit Card Information
  • Intellectual Property

Organizations can use different types of data masking techniques to secure data.

Types of Data Masking:

  • On-the-Fly Data Masking
  • Dynamic Data Masking
  • Static Data Masking
  • Deterministic Data Masking
  • Statical Data Obfuscation

Why Do Organizations Need To Implement Data Masking?

Data masking is an essential cyber security strategy that offers the following benefits to organizations:

  • It is essential to comply with regulations such as HIPAA.
  • Data masking minimizes exposure of sensitive data.
  • Allows organizations to decide how much data they want to reveal.
  • Ensures transparency of applications allowing data masking based on the user level.

While the benefits of data masking emphasize the importance of including it in the cyber security strategy of an organization, its efficiency depends upon the techniques used to implement data masking.

How Can Organizations Implement Data Masking?

There are multiple ways for organizations to implement data masking in their cyber security strategies. Some ways of data masking are:

  1. Data Pseudonymization: In this data masking technique, cyber security professionals identify the sensitive information in the dataset. The sensitive information might include details such as name, email, contact information, financial information, trade secrets, etc. After identification, the data is replaced by pseudo value while rest of the data remains same. This allows de-identification of data that can be reversed, if needed.
  2. Data Anonymization: This technique allows the cyber security teams to secure sensitive information by using data encryption methods. After encryption, the identifiers that connect data to any user are deleted to prevent hackers from gaining access to the masked data or user activity.
  3. Data Shuffling: Under this technique, the values of data entities in the columns of a data set are shuffled either vertically or across different columns. In simpler terms, no change is made to the data values, however the value of an element is assigned to another element and vice versa. The purpose of data shuffling is to ensure permutation of data elements in a way such that no correlation can be derived among the data elements.
  4. Tokenization: Tokenization is done by replacing actual value of data elements with values that look similar but do not have any actual meaning. For example, in a data set of employee salaries, the values of salaries may be replaced with tokens of numerical values that are not actual salary amounts.
  5. Averaging: This technique is used when it is required to maintain actual total value of a column in the data set. The values of individual elements are replaced with an average value such that the sum of all values in the column still remains same.

Centex Technologies assists businesses by providing different data security solutions. To know more, contact Centex Technologies at Killeen (254) 213 – 4740, Dallas (972) 375 – 9654, Atlanta (404) 994 – 5074, and Austin (512) 956 – 5454.

Top 10 Ways To Secure Data in Cloud Storage

PDF Version: Top-10-Ways-To-Secure-Data-in-Cloud-Storage

Tokenization and Encryption

PDF Version: Tokenization and Encryption

Data Security For Small Business

Businesses of all sizes may use Internet to access and use different computer-based or cloud hosted tools and databases to work efficiently. This makes it important for businesses to have data security as a part of their overall strategy. Small organizations may safeguard their on-premise data by fulfilling these five requirements:

Gathering, categorization, and storage of data

Create a centralized list of various kinds of data collected, collection procedures and storage facilities available and in use. Verify whether the collected data is stored safely and is secured by various authentication mechanisms. Sensitivity of every kind of data varies on the basis of a lot of parameters. Email lists, for example, must be protected, but their level of confidentiality is far lower than that of customer records, such as Credit Card information. By classifying data according to confidentiality and the consequences if their privacy is compromised, you may obtain a sense of what your security program requires.

Law of the land

Depending on your sector of work and your business location, you may be subject to legal compliance
obligations. These are the rules that govern how you get, manage, store, and transmit sensitive data. These
may alter based on your industry, geography, and who or where your customers are. Business owners must
clearly describe the infractions and their repercussions, which must be read and understood by all workers.

Threats and dangers

A risk assessment aids in the discovery of flaws in the security implementation strategy. Determine what forms of personal data are regulated and what efforts are being done to ensure compliance. It’s important to examine the risks that unregulated PII poses to reputation, competitiveness, security, and other factors. From the most likely to the least likely, threat sources are rated. Controlling procedures and precautions are examples of risk management approaches you may apply. Insider threats are sometimes disregarded because they aren’t always carried out maliciously. Negligent behaviors and errors, which are also insider risks, can lead to a data breach or data destruction. The outcome usually costs regulatory fines, reputational damage, and financial loss to the business. Security solutions to protect against both unintentional and intentional insider attacks is a must.

Data retention and disposal

Data is stored and saved by any business for a certain period of time as deemed fit to their business application and compliance requirements. While saving as much data as possible may seem like a good thing, confidential data can become a security risk if left unmanaged. Examine your organization to discover what data may be deleted. Customers who have moved away, or had their service terminated, as well as old personnel data, are just a few examples. People who have asked for their personal information to be removed and data discovered on unused devices or in accounts that have been abandoned. Data, especially PII, accumulates over time, “cleaning your house” can both save you money and reduce your risk.

Policies should be reviewed, updated, and upgraded

Examine your entire security program to determine which safeguards need to be updated. Similarly, make sure you’re using the most up-to-date technology and solutions to safeguard sensitive data. Setting up SOCs and NOCs, as well as developing holistic IT strategies, can help firms stay one step ahead of attackers. As a result of the introduction of new data privacy legislation, your policies may need to be revised. Examine your internal security policies and develop policies that include best-practice security procedures. Maintaining compliance with the SOC2 framework and CIS benchmarks criteria helps ensure the security of the data you store and handle.

Centex Technologies provide data security solutions for businesses. The IT security specialists work with clients to provide customized security solutions for their business. For more information, call Centex Technologies at (254) 213 – 4740.

© Copyright 2022 The Centex IT Guy. Developed by Centex Technologies
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)