Introduction

An organization comprises several sectors or departments. And the synchronization of all their activities makes the organization functional. How does the importance of data security come into play?.

Data is an important part of every business and organization. It‘s use is versatile and broad. Organizations make use of data to know the pain points of their target audience, scope out the competition and do marketing. 

This article reveals the basics of data security and highlights its importance. Read on.

What is Data Security?

Data security is the process an organization takes to keep data safe from compromise, cyber attacks, mishandling, and other woes.

All businesses, whether large, medium, or small, are at constant risk of data breaches—emphasis on ‘constant’. While SMEs think they aren’t on the target list, that couldn’t be more false. Small and medium businesses have proven to be easier targets of cyberattacks because they don’t have a comprehensive data security system.

As a matter of fact, statistics show that SMEs will make up a large percentage of the total victims of attacks in 2024. Large corporations are not left out either, but they usually have better ways of securing data. Regardless, the financial implications of a successful data breach frustrate the big guns.

The importance of data security goes beyond the one stated above. It is a legal requirement under several data protection laws, like the GDPR, NDPR, and the Data Protection Act of 2023.

These laws mandate organizations to secure the personal data of employees and clients against unauthorized access, loss, and compromise. Failure to comply with the data security requirements of these laws incurs severe penalties.

Differences Between Data Security and Cyber Security

While the application of these terms overlaps, they cannot always mean the same thing.

Data security is simply concerned with safeguarding data; on the other hand, cyber security protects the entire digital assets and computer system of an organization.

For better comprehension, cybersecurity is the fence protecting the building (digital assets and computer systems) and data security is the door protecting a room (databases) in the building.

Types of Data Security

There are several ways you can safeguard data as an organization. You can use any combination of these methods you find suitable for your business.

Below are some of the most common types of data security.

Data encryption

Data encryption is the logical scrambling of a dataset to prevent unauthorized parties from understanding it. This is perfect because hackers and other vile people cannot read it without a decryption key.

Data erasure

Data erasure is exactly as the name implies. After processing data for the intended use(s), you’ll need to get rid of them in accordance with the GDPR and NDPA. This method gets the job done without leaving a trace.

Data backup

Data backup involves storing another copy of the information on a secure external database. Do not mix it up with data storage.

When you lose the original copy, you can easily retrieve the secondary copy as a replacement. This ensures data resiliency (continuity of data after loss or compromise).

Data masking

Although similar to data encryption, this method is a bit different. Rather than scrambling the data, some characters in the data are replaced with entirely different characters. This makes the information unreadable without the password.

Authentication

This is probably the most important type of data security. Here’s how it works.

To access a particular data or database, authorized users must prove that their identity is accurate. This can be done with a login and password system.

Biometrics like fingerprints and rectinal scans are further steps to authentication—two-factor authentication.

Firewalls

A firewall secures data by blocking access from certain IP addresses.

importance of Data Security

The importance of data security cannot be overemphasized. These are some reasons why you should take data security seriously in your organization.

 

Unnecessary expenditure

Businesses are always on the receiving ends of data insecurity. The reason why is that corporations have to spend significant amounts of money to reverse the damages inflicted during data loss, compromise, and theft.

Aside from that, the owners of compromised data can seek to file lawsuits against the institution careless enough to lose data. Such actions take a toll on the company’s pocket.

Automated attacks

The importance of data security shows itself here. Hackers found an easier way to attack in the form of BOT attacks. It’s an automated system with which they can consistently raid your database without breaking a sweat. To combat this, all businesses need to update their data security systems.

Reputational damage

Absolutely no one would trust a brand known to always lose their data. Most data held by organizations is very personal and sensitive. Examples are names, bank details, health status, social media passwords, etc. 

The illegal release of such data is dangerous to its owners, as impersonations, targeted attacks, and online scams will be issued against them. Therefore, organizations need to secure data to protect brand image.

Data integrity

The integrity of data relies on its reliability and accuracy. This means that for data to maintain its integrity, it must be void of compromises or variations as much as possible.

You can maintain data integrity through the centralization of data storage and putting it on various servers. This ensures that uncompromised data is available at all times.

GDPR Compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation is the law that guides organizations towards data protection in the EU. Although an EU law, the GDPR is regarded as the most comprehensive data protection regulation in the world. organizations

In compliance with the GDPR, businesses and organizations have to implement foolproof data security systems. Why? The law penalizes defaulting entities with fines, sanctions, and even outright bans.

Conclusion

In 2024, data security will be a must for all organizations—small, medium, and large. With it, you can prevent financial loss and reputational damage in addition to complying with legal regulations like GDPR. endeavor to mount more data security methods in your organization; you’ll be better for it.

Want more info on data security for SMEs? Check here.