No matter what sort of business you run, as technology continues to improve, you’re required to store more and more data. Everything’s getting larger in the digital realm; software that fit on a small pendrive ten years ago now needs hundreds of gigabytes and a large SSD harddisk to run off of, and even individual pieces of data, such as those on customers, patients, or whoever you’re dealing with, have increased in size.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to brush up on the best practices for keeping it safe, and that’s exactly what you’ll learn about today. Here are the main things you need to know when it comes to data security.
Setting Your Data Governance Strategy
Before you actually store any data, it’s key to determine the hows and whys of data collection. You’ll need to first understand the different types of data you’re collecting, how you’re going to store it, and what happens to it over time (Is there a data retention period? Will it remain in the system indefinitely?).
Defining these elements helps you form a proper strategy going forward. When you get stuck on a question or problem surrounding the data you hold, you’ll be thankful you laid the groundwork like this.
Make Sure You Have a Backup
One of the most fundamental elements of data security is, of course, the backup. Data breaches are all too common these days, and even if you’re not at a large risk of a hack, there’s still human error to consider. This is particularly the case if you’re working with a large team where multiple people handle the same data; it’s easy for things to get lost if you’re not careful.
You should have at least one physical backup containing the core of your data library, and it’s beneficial to use dedicated cloud services as an extra precaution, too. You’ll also want to make sure your backups are encrypted, so that in the event someone does steal your data, they can’t read it.
The Role of a Data Center
If you’re dealing with so much data that you can’t manage it all in-house, it’s time to approach a data center.
Data colocation (whereby you’re essentially renting out high-quality IT infrastructure) enables you to store as much data as you want in a climate-controlled environment with the absolute highest security standards. Data center providers offer a number of plans tailored to specific types of data and the unique needs of different industries, and provide the peace of mind you need when dealing with the most sensitive information.
There’s only so much you can handle by yourself, and as demands increase, the role of data centers will become all the more important.
Wrapping Up
The above is only a brief overview with the aim of getting you started with data protection. There’s a lot more that goes into it, so be sure to do your own research and investigate the specific requirements for managing data in your industry.
