10 Data Security Best Practices in 2024

In today’s technological connecting world, any type of data is very precious and crucial for an individual also as well as for the organization’s world. So, data security become the topmost and utmost priority for everyone.

Data have become so much crucial nowadays, but at the same time, cyberattacks and data breaches also increasing day by day. Hence, securing our data becomes more important to prevent any type of data loss or breaches.

What is Data Security?

Data Security refers to the practice of safeguarding digital information through the whole life cycle to protect it from unauthorized access. The security of data is important for every organization or business as it helps to find solutions, improves efficiency, reduces risks, and also helps improve productivity. This is a type of practice used to maintain confidential data.

10 Data Security Best Practices

Multiple data security practices are used to protect valuable data and are also used for many purposes. Some of the top 10 Data Security Best Practices are mentioned below:

1. Analyzing and Classifying Data

Data analysis and classifying is one of the best practices in data security as it is used to implement security measures based on the sensitivity of the data. Therefore this practice is used to safeguard the data from malicious activities that are performed to harm the data.

Advantages:

• A data discovery activity can help you map your data landscape, understand the flow of information, and identify potential threats. This information forms the cornerstone of your data security.
• Through data discovery, you can determine what information needs to be safeguarded and how.
• Therefore analyzing the data and classifying the data is one of the best data security practices.

2. Access Control to Sensitive Data

All that matters in access control is who can see your belongings. Ensuring that your sensitive data is only accessed by authorized parties. In the case of an organization, Not every employee in the organization requires access to the same data. The reason for this is that increased access to confidential data increases the possibility of internal security breaches, data theft, and/or loss.

Advantages:

• The access should only be provided to those who require it for doing some organization’s work.
• Therefore by not providing access to the sensitive data organizations can protect their data from various malicious activities performed by the hackers.
• By restricting the access it helps to save the useful data from data loss or theft.

3. Applying Encryption

Encryption means to convert the data from plain text into hypertext when transmitting and at the time of receiving, decrypt the data means converting the cipher text back into plain text so, that the receiver will be able to read that data. Through the use of sophisticated algorithms, encryption jumbles data into an unintelligible format.

Advantages:

• By applying encryption it helps to maintain the safety and data integrity of the organization.
• It also helps in avoiding compliance issues and regulatory fines.
• Therefore encryption is an essential data security best practice that is used to convert data from plain text to hypertext.

4. Enabling Multi-factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication is a type of multi-step login process that particularly requires the users to enter more information than just the password. Hence by using multi-factor authorization data can be kept safe and it is not easily hacked.

Advantages:

• By using MFA it still requires access to a second factor (like a code sent to your phone), even if the other person knows your password.
• It is a good practice for data security since it greatly lowers the possibility of unwanted access and aids in protecting sensitive information.
• Multi-factor authentications acts as a deterrent to account takeover(ATO) attacks.

5. Create Strong Passwords

A strong Password is extremely crucial for protecting your accounts. Make sure your passwords are strong and lengthy, akin to those of a superhero. Don’t use all of that “123456” as a password as it can be easily hacked or tracked by the hackers.

Advantages:

• It is suggested to make strong passwords to maintain the safety of the data.
• A strong password is the main barrier to keeping most of our online accounts from being hacked.
• A strong password is not easily detectable and cannot be hacked easily that’s why it is one of the main data security practices to be followed.

6. Protect Data Physically

Physical security measures are often overlooked in the context of data security. Not all information will be kept on the internet. Numerous employees in the legal, accounting, and government sectors still handle their private data on USB drives and paper documents in person.

Advantages:

• Installing security cameras in the workplace and locking up after hours are good practices for data security.
• There are multiple ways people use USB drives and paper documents to keep the data safe.
• Hence, it is recommended to stop data theft, it’s a good idea to lock your workstations when you’re not there and secure server rooms with locks, alarms, and cameras.

7. Use Endpoint Security System

To safeguard your data, use endpoint security systems. Hackers or any Malicious Users may gain access to your sensitive information if malware is installed on your devices. Use firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, pop-up blockers, antivirus software, and other security measures to protect your data using endpoint security systems.

Advantages:

• These tools shield your devices from cybercriminals and stop unwanted pop-ups.
• Using an endpoint security system also stops malware from infecting your devices.
• To reduce the chance of data breaches, it’s critical to scan and check the health of your system routinely.

8. Make a Record of Cybersecurity Guidelines

Setting what is permitted and what is not when it comes to handling sensitive data is outlined in a data security policy. Creating clear rules and guidelines about Who, what, where, when, and how data can be accessed are all clearly defined by establishing a policy.

Advantages:

• One must carefully record the cybersecurity policies, standards, and practices because doing so will guarantee that everyone involved receives appropriate training, checklists, and information.
• Detailed rules must be created to make a record of the cybersecurity guidelines.
• Therefore making a record of the guidelines helps in handling the data that is outlined in the security policies.

9. Give Security Awareness Training

Any organization’s first line of defense is its workforce or employees. So, it is a must to verify that they understand how to protect your data. Nonetheless, the simplest and most efficient approach is to train staff members on data security initiatives, best practices, and policies.

Advantages:

• Workers need to be taught the value of data security, security management techniques, and how to lessen the impact of possible threats.
• Training should be provided to not just the people who are working in the data security department but also to the whole team so that they can maintain the safety of the data.
• The security awareness training also helps the employees to have a better knowledge and understanding of how the data can be protected and measures that need to be followed.

10. Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)

At the very least, if an organization is planning to use a public wifi network, make sure that it uses a device that has a VPN installed. A public internet connection can be used to create a private network thanks to virtual private networks.

Advantages:

• VPNs are mainly used to protect the data of any organization and to manage user access to that data.
• It also uses encryption to develop a secure connection over the unsecured internet infrastructure.
• Therefore by using a Virtual private network individuals can also provide better security and it is also a best practice.

Conclusion

So, these are some of the top 10 data security best practices that an individual or organization can follow which can help organizations to build a solid foundation for safeguarding their confidential data. Maintaining a strong data security posture requires regular user education, keeping up with emerging threats, and constantly adjusting security procedures.

FAQ on 10 Data Security Best Practices

What happens to the data, if an organization is not using the VPNs on their systems or network?

All data that moves between devices and the internet is unencrypted without a VPN. This implies that private emails, financial information, and login credentials may be intercepted by someone prying on the network, such as hackers using public Wi-Fi.

Why do we often need to conduct Audits from time to time on data discovery? Why it is important to conduct audits?

Making timely audits in an organization, it helps for businesses go through big transitions or manage extremely sensitive data.

What are some of the common methods for Multi-Factor Authentication

Some of the popular MFA methods are given below:-

• One-time passwords are provided by SMS or mobile authentication apps.
• Some tokens with security produce different codes.
• Adding email id for a one-time password authentication purposes.
• Availability of scanners for facial recognition or fingerprints.

Who is responsible in an organization for protecting Data Security within an organization?

IT security and admin team is playing a very important in implementing and maintaining all types of data security measures, and also all employees should also be aware of all the data security measures as well as responsibilities.