News of data breaches are not uncommon nowadays. As such, organizations should take stringent measures to ensure that their sensitive data is secure. Apart from PCI or SOX compliance, there’s a need to think about other measures like those demanded by GDPR.
In this post, we shall look at cloud security solutions and how you can use it to secure your sensitive data. Read along to learn more.
Table of Contents
Understanding Cloud Encryption
Encryption is a data security solution that helps protect data that you receive, send, or store in your device. These include any sensitive information you send online or even text messages on your smartphone.
Ideally, when the data is encrypted, only the person with the secret key can access it. As such, it is an excellent way to secure your sensitive data.
How does Cloud Encryption work?
Ideally, cloud encryption involves scrambling a plain text, for instance, email or a text message, into ciphertext (unreadable format). This way, the confidentiality of the data being transmitted or stored digitally is protected.
The information is then converted into the original form when it gets to the intended recipient through a process called decryption. Ideally, both the sender and recipient will need to have the decryption key to read the message.
Types of Encryption
Generally, there are two types of encryptions; symmetric and asymmetric encryptions.
Symmetric encryption comes with only one key that all the parties involved used to encrypt or decrypt the data. On the other hand, asymmetric encryption, also known as public-key encryption, has two keys. As you would guess, one key is used for encryption while the other is used for decryption.
While each can be used for either function, if the first key is used for encryption, automatically, the second key will be used for decryption, and vice versa. While one key will be shared publicly, the other will be kept private.
Why is Data Encryption Important?
Wondering whether data encryption is necessary? Read below to learn why data encryption matters.
Security
The first reason why organizations use data encryption is to enhance the security of their sensitive data. Ideally, encryption helps protect your data, whether stored or transit. As such, even if the company’s hard drive is damaged or stolen, the data stored in it will still be secure.
What’s more, encryption protects sensitive data from leakage when two parties are communicating.
Privacy
Encryption will also come in handy if you want to prevent any unauthorized access to your communications or stored data. Ideally, when you have encrypted your data, attackers, internet service providers, ad networks, and even government agencies will not access your sensitive data.
It’s a Regulation Requirement
Most government and industry regulations require organizations that handle user sensitive information to use data encryption.
For instance, higher learning institutions need to follow the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act to protect the student’s information. On the other hand, those in healthcare need to follow the guidelines issued by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect their customers’ sensitive data.
As you can see, apart from helping companies protect their customer’s sensitive information, encryption helps organizations become compliant.
Other Data Security Solutions
While cloud encryption has gained increased popularity in recent years, it is not the only data security strategy. Read below to learn about more reliable data security solutions you may want to try:
Firewall
A firewall is another great option you can use to protect your network. It works by preventing undesirable networks from attacking your traffic. What’s more, since it allows you to open the preferred ports, it helps prevent hackers from accessing your data.
While you can use firewalls alone, sometimes you want to use them with other infrastructure devices.
Antivirus
Whether you need a personal or commercial data security solution, antivirus software will come in handy. Ideally, antivirus software works by detecting and preventing malicious code from accessing your sensitive data.
Data Loss Prevention
This data security solution will help monitor your servers, workstations, and even networks to ensure that the sensitive data stored in them is neither copied, moved, nor deleted. DLP also works to ensure that there’s no unauthorized data use.
Auditing
Data auditing is also an essential way to protect your sensitive data. Ideally, data auditing helps you discover any data changes or any attempted access. If you notice many failed login attempts, consider reporting it for investigation.
Physical Security
Physical security will also play a huge role in securing sensitive data. As a rule of thumb, ensure that each workstation is well-protected. This way, your sensitive data will not be compromised.
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