Data is a vital asset for any business. If a data breach happens, it can halt operations and harm your reputation. It’s also likely to result in legal liability, as many companies today are governed by a variety of data privacy standards and regulations.
The process of establishing your data protection plan begins by establishing a strategy that aligns with your organization’s overall security policy. This will help you set clear guidelines and expectations for your employees to follow when handling sensitive data, from initial creation through archiving or erasing it.
It’s also essential to identify the types of data that your business has and the levels of sensitivity they should be classified as. This allows you to implement data governance measures such as access based on user, automatic masking, as well as tracing of data lineage.
You should also create a procedure for responding to government requests for data and requests for information. Idealy data security and compliance one of your lawyers should be in charge of this to ensure that the response is true and also in compliance with relevant data protection laws.
Make sure that all employees are aware of the policies and procedures of your company around protecting data. Particularly those who work at home or in other offsite locations. For instance, you can explain to employees that it’s against company policy to share passwords, or even post them in the vicinity of their workstations. They should also be warned be wary of identity thieves who may contact them claiming to be from IT in order to obtain their personal information. Be sure to confirm any emails that appear to be from someone they know in the office and request confidential information.
