One of the big challenges that businesses face is dealing with data security while supporting compliance with government regulations. Furthermore, all this has to take place within the ever-changing nature of business. As a result, it is important for any business to keep up with both of these needs. Here are four ways to keep up with both government compliance and data security.
Address Insider Risk.
With employees moving around jobs more frequently these days along with an increased number of employees working remotely it is important for companies to consider the risk of insider security problems. When employees leave the company there is always the risk of them accidentally or even worse intentionally taking data with them. One simple solution to this problem is to make sure that they only use company devices for work regardless of where they are. When employees are working remotely, you may need to provide additional authentication to make sure they are indeed who they are supposed to be. One solution to this problem would be a form of double authentication. This process can be simplified by making it automatic.
Know Your Data.
One of the biggest keys to successful data security is knowing your data. It helps a lot to have your data properly categorized. Proper organization of your data makes both government compliance and data security a lot easier because it makes it easier to control who gets what data. For example, there is a lot of data about a customer that most employees do not need access to when working on that customer’s project. After all, an employee or someone pretending to be them cannot steal data that they do not have access to. As a result, proper categorization of data, that is properly knowing your data, will make data security a lot easier.
Securing your data in a World Without Borders.
One of the biggest risks to data security today is the fact that walls and borders are becoming less of a factor in maintaining security. The simplest approach to dealing with this problem is by use of a Zero Trust framework. A Zero Trust framework rejects any request for access even from within the network without the proper verification. This approach assumes that a breach is always in progress and therefore requires explicit verification with every request for access to data. The simplest way to implement such a strategy is to set up an automatic verification system on every device they will have access to your data system.
Putting All the Pieces Together.
Ultimately, a successful data security compliance system requires putting all of these pieces together into a single functioning unit. This needs to be done in a way that will maximize employee productivity, while still respecting their privacy and allowing any necessary flexibility in where they are working. Putting each of these pieces together into a fully functional system is what will keep your data system secure. No data system can be perfectly secure, particularly from malicious intent by those with legitimate access. However, these four approaches when working together come a long way toward reducing the risk. It is really the best way a business can simplify data compliance and security.
Managing the Complexity of Your Security.
Sadly, it is common for a company data security system to be a patchwork of unintegrated security measures the company has acquired over time. This produces a level of complexity in the system that needs to be managed if you are going to keep the process simple. One solution would be to find a way to integrate the various parts of the system into a single unit. Another option would be to simplify the process for the user by automating the authentication process within company devices beyond verification by that device of the user. Trying to do both would result in the most data security, but it would also be the more expensive choice.
Conclusion
It is important for any company to keep its data secure, and the need for government compliance with such security makes it even more difficult. Simplifying the process, and the accessibility of employees is an important approach to improving data security. While no approach can be totally perfect, the mentality needs to be to keep it simple but keep it secure.