Data protection is a practice of securing valuable information from any unauthorized access resulting from cyber attacks and data breaches. Data is often considered one of the most valuable assets of an organization; therefore, preventing any data‑related compromise is vital. To ensure such prevention, organizations from around the globe are investing heavily on cyber security to enhance their data protection capabilities.

There are several ways the organizations can protect their data. Some of the ways are discussed below.

Strictly Regulated Policies

An organization can have a strictly regulated policy in place. From time to time, internal or external audits could be performed to ensure every entity within an organization is correctly following the enforced policies.

Access Controls

An organization can define data access rules and grant access based on those rules. A specific individual who needs access to certain data must have access only to that data. The scope their access must not exceed their need. Similarly, an organization can also keep a log of each data access event and keep track of who access the data, when the data was accessed, and what data was accessed.

Data Encryption

When in storage or in transit, data could be encrypted using a secure encryption method. Just in case an encrypted data gets compromised, it will be useless to an attacker, unless they can decrypt it. To ensure almost complete security, it is advisable to use reasonably long encryption keys. The type and length of key to use will depend on the algorithm used for encryption.

Authentication

Organizations can restrict systems used to access data only to authorized users. Those systems could be protected using various methods, including password, PIN numbers, security tokens, swipe cards, bio-metrics, etc.

Data Erasure

At the end of a lifecycle of data, the data may need to get disposed. An organization must dispose of any unneeded data appropriately by following the industry‑standard techniques. This will prevent any attacker from extracting any information from discarded data.

These are some of the most common techniques used for data protection. Depending on the requirements, the methods an organization needs to use may vary. It is a good idea to consult with cyber security experts to identify the exact actions your organization will have to undertake to attain the highest level of desired data protection.