Data Security

Data Security Management

Data security management is a way to maintain the integrity of data and to make sure that the data is not accessible by unauthorized parties or susceptible to corruption of data. Data security is put in place to ensure privacy in addition or protecting this data. Data itself is a raw form of information that is stored on network servers, possible personal computers and in the form of columns and rows. This data can be anything from personal files to intellectual property and even top-secret information. Data can be considered as anything that can be understood and interpreted by humans.

Because the internet is a growing phenomenon, there was and always will be an emphasis on protecting personal or company data. Computer users as time goes on tend to be slightly more aware with their files, but are still encouraged to use some sort of data security. Data security methods can be acquired by using specific software solutions or hardware mechanisms.

Information can be encrypted or unreadable to a person with no access. When encrypting this data, mathematical sequences and algorithms are used to scramble information. Encryption allows only an approved party to decode this unreadable text with a key. Only those that have this key can access any information. Authentication is another form of data security to be used for more daily access. A sign-on to an email account, bank account etc., only allows the user with the proper key or password. The most commonly used method of keeping data protected is with data security software. This software keeps unauthorized parties from accessing private data and offers a variety of different options. Some of these options include requiring a sign-on to email accounts, rewriting of software, and being able to control security options remotely. Data can also be protected with IP security. This means that data can be protected from a hacker while in transit.

One of the biggest reasons to keep data protected is because there are many corporations that hacker want to target and breach. Data security tends to be necessary for large businesses but the small ones usually have fewer infrastructures in place, making the information not a great loss if breached. Depending on the services and content that is to be protected, there can be preventative measures to further protect the information. For example Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) can be set to control whether or not the recipient of an email can be read and viewed, edited, copied or saved; these setting can also set an expiration date of a specific document.

By keeping data secured, it is possible to give different access to different people. For instance, sales associates can have access to their sales databases, but are unable to access another sales associates information or business information (e.g. accounts payable, accounts receivable). Creating a single storage location (or server) for the data, and assigning individuals with different access, keeping up with data is a breeze. It makes it easier to maintain the data, and permits a quick transfer to another storage location if needed. Data security software can also serve as a source to make secure sites (that give access to data files) can only be accessed by authorized personnel.

Data Security Purpose

A security policy is a formal statement as to how people can gain or be restricted access to an organization’s information and data. These policies define an overall security system for a corporation and must be put in place for every operation to define what different security goals are needed. Creating a security system is an effective way to keep data protected. A security policy must be able to be economically practical, clear, consistent and realistic.
The main purpose of a security policy is to help distinguish access to information by users, staff, and managers. Security and by policies interpret and clarify different levels of security between the differences in member rank. Another reason is so that departments like tech support have a solid foundation set to be compliant with. With this, companies are able to develop operational procedures, control user access and rules, systems and networks.
In order for security policies to work, they must be able to be implementable in the publishing of user guidelines and through system administration procedures. They have to be enforceable with security tools where prevention isn’t possible.