The issues of data security and the need for encryption of emails have been discussed in earlier blogs. The commonality to these lies in encryption which is at the heart of data security. It is a relatively fool proof method of ensuring that the data ― be it at the individual level, or at the organizational level ― is kept secure whether it is at rest, in transit, or in use. Encryption is utilized to thwart any information, especially sensitive data, being read, used, or handled by a device or hacker when in transit, or at rest. So, it is vital to understand what encryption is, and how many kinds are there for people to harness to safeguard their data.
Definition and Types of Encryption
The coding which converts easily read text, also called plain text, into scrambled text which is also called cipher text is called encryption. To be transformed back into readable text, a decryption key is required. Since the decryption key lies with only the authorized user, it keeps data safe from prying eyes. Encryption involves using a set of mathematical values which is the cryptographic keys that both the sender and recipient have agreed on. Whether the same key is used for encryption and decryption, or different keys are used will help to determine whether it should be considered symmetrical or asymmetrical encryption. IT administrators also use hashing, i.e., create a short string of characters that can be decrypted only by someone who is aware of the algorithm used to create the decryption or encryption key. However, the only time when encryption spells trouble for all concerned is when hackers use ransomware to encrypt all data stored on your device.
Know What Is Full Disk Encryption
By using full disk encryption which allows access to data only when the system boots helps in keeping data at rest secure. This means that whenever the system starts up, or simply restarts, the individual trying to gain access to the system must type a password or passphrase regardless of whether it has been shut down, or had simply been put to sleep. The drawback is that it might end up being problematic for a user who needs to log in immediately, thereby luring users to try and circumvent the password. The degree of protection extended by the full-disk encryption solution is largely determined on how strongly the cloud provider handles the password, in case your cloud provider stores the passphrase, and inevitably delivers it to the operating system at boot time. Choose only a cloud storage provider which has rigid data security procedures in place. Unfortunately, the data will be safeguarded only while it is stored on the device or hard disk. As soon as it is extracted from the machine i.e., copied to another device, resent, etc., it loses its protection.
Take Advantage of Comprehensive Device Encryption
A comprehensive encryption solution will protect confidential information at every stage of its existence. Ensure that if anything ever happens to your device, data on it cannot be accessed as it gets scrambled using comprehensive device encryption. However, the major disadvantage of this method is that if the device has been stolen, or simply lost; data can be copied or sent to a machine that does not have these limitations in place. This in itself becomes a vulnerability for data at rest. You can also use automated tools to validate and enforce data at rest controls continuously.
Supplement Encryption by Using Tokenization
Using tokens to represent sensitive pieces of information is a powerful form of protection. This process is known as tokenization. For example, a customer’s credit card number might be represented by a token. The real strength of tokenization is that on its own the token is meaningless. The safeguard that must be used is that the token should not be drawn from the data it is tokenizing. Keep in mind that a cryptographic digest is not operable as a token. Another option is masking which makes discernible sections of data valueless in themselves, but useful for indexing.
Encrypt the Files Themselves
Secure your group’s database by employing Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), the data-encryption technology which encodes SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL DW). File level encryption is the most popular method of encryption as it protects both data at rest and in transit. This kind of encryption permits you to protect every individual file. However, this kind of protection runs into a roadblock when you use software as a service (SaaS) applications like MS Office 365 and G Suite. These tend to be web hosted, thereby presenting an inherent vulnerability. Therefore, do not rely on any SaaS application to provide data security at rest.
Establishing Data Leak Prevention (DLP)
Data might be disclosed when personnel have not been properly trained, firewalls have not been configured, and other protective software have not been updated. Data leak prevention (DLP) allows you to safeguard data that is being transmitted from your organization. It facilitates a search for the location of sensitive data on an terminal or network storage area. DLP involves detection and prevention of data breaches, exfiltration, or unwanted destruction of sensitive data. This method does not allow any removable media to copy any data, or send any information on the network by blocking copying data to a USB drive, sending it to network drives, or uploading to web or cloud applications, etc. Another way to prevent data from leaking is by using metadata rather than raw data, or by enabling access to only specific data sets and fields, or by disguising documents not needed prior to analysis in other applications. You must regularly audit and monitor data to be alerted any time data is manipulated, or deleted in an unauthorized manner. DLP enables identification of vulnerabilities, and anomalies for forensics and incident response.
Takeaway: Proper data security depends on how well you are able to neutralize threats by using countermeasures to prevent harm to your organization with proactive data protection.
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