Page 168 - Cyber Defense eMagazine April 2023
P. 168
The Data Dilemma: Balancing Business
Growth and Security
By Noah Johnson, Co-Founder & CTO of Dasera
In today's digital age, data is the lifeblood of business growth. With large amounts of data sprawled across
multiple platforms, companies must catalog and organize their data to derive actionable insights. But with
data's value comes risk, and companies must ensure the data they collect and use is secure.
To start, companies must inventory their data and catalog it, both structured and unstructured data,
whether in databases, cloud storage, or on-premises systems. This step is crucial to identify all data
sources, including shadow data lurking on unsecured devices.
Once the data has been identified, it must be classified based on sensitivity so that data such as PII, PHI,
and financial data can be secured accordingly. Companies should work with data owners and stewards
to classify the data and determine who should have access.
Access control must be implemented to limit who has access to sensitive data, both internal and external,
to the organization. This includes limiting access to those who need it for their job functions and
implementing multi-factor authentication to ensure only authorized users can access the data.
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