The current era is internet-savvy, wherein data and information are generated in large volumes on a daily basis. Right from sensitive or confidential information of organization and customers, vast amounts of data that is generated around the globe. Furthermore, enterprises count on cutting-edge technologies, which has led to an increasing risk of nerve-wracking issues, such as data breaches and cyber threats. Thus, having an enterprise data security strategy is a need of the hour.
Know More About Enterprise Data Security:
Enterprise data is nothing but all the valuable information that various teams and functions gather, store, and share with each other to perform different tasks within the organization. Enterprises encompass a variety of functions and departments that work in collaboration to achieve their end goals. In the process, confidential company data is shared among various team members, devices, time zones, and locations.
The higher the number of company staff accessing the valuable data, the higher the likelihood of data breach. Here, enterprise data security comes into play, as it enables only authorized team members to access the company’s critical data, including asset and financial details, among others.
Key Recommendations to Consider for Building Robust Enterprise Data Security Strategy:
For thoughtfully creating an enterprise data security strategy, it is necessary to consider below-mentioned recommendations:
1. Having a data security policy draft in place:
As a best practice, you should have a thoughtfully created draft of your company’s data security policy. The language must be simple enough for all employees to understand. The policy document will include sections such as data classification and categorization, encryption approach, data retention, data storage, and data disposal.
Additionally, this policy document will enable organization staff to understand their accountability for safeguarding the company’s confidential data and addressing security incidents appropriately. While drafting a policy, ensure it streamlines with the end goals of your company. A well-drafted policy helps employees understand how to handle information about clients, customers, or the company while restricting access to only authorized personnel, thereby protecting valuable information.
2. Leveraging data encryption method:
End-to-end encryption of data is one of the best practices to keep in mind for effectively securing IT frameworks, policies, and other critical assets. Encryption helps to transform all your crucial documents and files from plain text to an encoded form. In the process, a key is generated. The owner of the document has the file decryption key for restoring data in its original form whenever you wish to access it.
The data encryption method seeks to efficiently secure company data (including data in transit and data at rest). In short, this method allows for the easy encoding of information while it’s stored on a server or while it’s shared or transferred from one person to another. Only the authorized person can retrieve the data using the decryption key. No matter how hard anyone attempts to attack the data, their efforts will be in vain, as the data will be encrypted and can only be accessed by authorized individuals, not everyone. This method also helps you remain compliant with standards, namely CCPA, GDPR, and HIPAA.
3. Using MFA (Multi-factor authentication):
Another important consideration for your enterprise data security strategy is multi-factor authentication (MFA). It is diligently designed to create an extra security layer in your network system. As the name suggests, this method involves more than one stage of verification to allow access.
Most of the companies resort to the MFA method for enhanced data security to ward off cyberattacks. In this method, people must validate themselves using two factors, such as a password and a gadget. It is leveraged by Microsoft Authenticator, wherein a user must add a password as well as a code received for verification on their device. Banking sector industries also use this process to enable user to log in to their app not only by password but also a code that they receive on their smartphone for further verifying their identity.
4. Generate awareness by imparting training to organization staff:
It is essential to recognize that employees can also pose a significant threat to a company’s data security, as they have direct access to the data. There are various cyberattacks that cybercriminals use to trap employees, for instance, phishing. In this cyberattack, a person aims to retrieve sensitive company data through the enterprise’s crucial resources, i.e., employees. A cybercriminal typically sends an email or makes a phone call to retrieve sensitive data, such as credit card details, usernames, passwords, or bank account details.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide training to individuals on various ways to trace and mitigate potential threats. You must thoughtfully draft an enterprise data security framework and policy that is simple to grasp by different team members. You can use a burner email address to send emails to all employees, requesting them to provide details such as username and password. It is also essential to keep track of the responses from staff. Moreover, when imparting training sessions, you can provide an example of an employee keeping their name anonymous to help everyone understand that these emails are phishing scams and pose a threat to the company.
5. Perform audits on a timely basis for evaluating data security:
Auditing is one of the efficient techniques for learning and evaluating your enterprise’s data security strategy and identifying any potential loopholes. Once employees are well-versed in understanding the company’s confidential data and possible cyber threats, it is vital to consider consistent auditing. It will also help you understand the importance of incorporating cybersecurity platforms necessary for an organization’s data security.
Moreover, auditing data will provide insight into which processes to focus on to improve efficiency. Accordingly, you can plan the budget and timeframe to plan and implement a methodology for data security.
Closing Thoughts:
Now that you understand the importance of having an enterprise data security strategy, it is essential to know that Egnyte’s unified document management and control tool helps you discover and safeguard sensitive data with ease. It will eventually help considerably in decreasing the risk of exposure, thereby maintaining compliance. By following the recommendations mentioned above, you can adequately protect the enterprise’s critical data and enhance its reputation.
