Strategies to Secure Data Mesh Architecture

CISOs should consider designing and implementing a robust security strategy to secure their data mesh throughout the organization to keep sensitive data secure from malicious actors.

The current access management policies are not capable of managing the centralized monolithic data application. Data ecosystems in modern landscapes have evolved tremendously; considering the changing of big data ecosystems and data security requirements, traditional security implementations have become obsolete. One of the most strategic ways organizations can ensure security is by adopting a cloud-first culture by embracing a DataSecOps strategy. The IT teams, data scientists, and security experts can work cohesively from the start of the data mesh development to enforce and evolve the security approach from the beginning.

Data mesh security pitfalls

Data security should be one of the top priorities of organizations of every size, type, and industry. However, enterprises might have to overcome multiple challenges while securing their data mesh architecture. Resources might find it difficult to gain visibility into their data about who is using it where and when for what purposes, which makes it challenging for businesses to secure their data architecture. SecOps teams might not be able to restrict unauthorized and unnecessary access, which becomes a significant concern for securing the data mesh.

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Here are a few strategies that CISOs consider to improve the data mesh architecture security:

Evaluate and modernize the existing technology

To ensure better data security, enterprises need to have traditional and modern protection mechanisms working cohesively. Hence, it is crucial to determine if the current technology helps to strengthen or expose the business network. CISOs should consider evaluating all the encryption capabilities of the data which is at rest and ensure that every data set is standardized. SecOps teams can even design and enforce effective data protection mechanisms for every data set based on its potential risks and impact on the business process. This ensures that irrespective of where the data is stored throughout the mesh, it will be secured from unauthorized access. The data mesh security architecture should be able to secure the data when it is at rest, used, or in transition.

Implement data mesh-oriented security training

The data security mesh needs the enterprises to establish a cloud-first culture for all the resources that use, share and secure the data.

While implementing data security strategies, organizations need to educate the resources on how to use sensitive data without exposing it to various threats. Moreover, the CISOs should consider implementing workflows that measure and monitors the operations in real-time to identify threats to their sensitive data.

Integrate continuous security assessment tools

Data mesh architectures are always vulnerable to potential threats and risks. Hence, they need robust security tools that enable them to access the data framework in real-time. It is crucial for the DataSecOps teams to evaluate the data solutions, including the analytics and machine learning tools that are integrated into the current data pipelines. Enterprises that are not able to constantly monitor, identify and mitigate the threats in real-time will have ineffective data governance policies and result in compliance issues.

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Enforce a zero-trust approach for your data mesh architectures

CISOs should consider designing and enforcing a zero-trust cybersecurity approach for all the users trying to access data. It is crucial for users to adhere to all the fundamental security rules enforced by the enterprise, such as the least privileged users. Enterprises can partner with cloud security experts to design and enforce an effective data mesh security posture to keep the data infrastructure secure.

DataSecOps teams can consider the above-mentioned strategies to strengthen their security posture of the data mesh architecture.