What is Data Security?
Data security refers to a variety of technologies and processes that block bad actors from accessing sensitive or confidential information. It is important to ensure that only authorized users have access to and can work with the data they are permitted to use. They should also use it in a safe and trusted way. Authorization, authentication and role-based access controls are the most important aspects.
A robust data protection plan is essential for business resilience. It helps businesses continue their operations, recover quickly from disasters and user errors, application outages, or malware attacks. It also ensures that the backups of data that are mission-critical can be recovered in near-real time, and that the backups themselves are protected with physical and logical security measures.
Data security tools permit organizations to view the location of their important data, as well as how it is being utilized and who is accessing it. They should be able to put in place various protections, including encryption of data and redaction, data masking and automated reporting.
They should also ensure that data is protected at the source, whether it’s in a database or file, or in a cloud storage system. This includes using zero trust principles which rely upon immutability, quorum controls and other security measures to stop malicious applications from altering or deleting your personal information. Additionally, they can use advanced security tools, such as behavioral analytics. This identifies normal patterns of data usage and alerts on unusual or risky behaviors. They can also use machine learning technology and cognitive computing which mimics human thought to help prioritize the stream of security events and safeguard data in real time.
