Most industries are embracing Big Data or have adopted it in their operations. Also, the evolution in the data privacy acts has made it a lucrative target for cybercriminals to exploit and cripple the organization’s operations to extort a tremendous amount of money. CISOs should consider implementing the best big data security strategies to stay secure.
It’s essential to note that big data breaches can occur at any time, and organizations must take proactive measures to prevent them. Regulatory bodies worldwide are evolving privacy policies to strengthen users’ privacy rights. Data breaches lead to the loss of sensitive information, financial losses, legal consequences, and reputational damage to the affected organization. Therefore, it’s crucial to implement robust security measures to secure big data against data breaches, such as encryption, access control, multi-factor authentication, and regular security audits. Organizations should also update their software and systems with the latest security patches and conduct regular employee training on security best practices. Securing big data is a complex task involving several measures to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access, theft, or misuse.
Here are some steps that can help CISOs to secure big data:
Data Encryption
Encrypting data is one of the most efficient ways to secure big data. Encryption involves using an algorithm to convert plain text data into an unreadable format. This big data security strategy makes the data unreadable and unusable to anyone who does not have the key to decrypt it. SecOps teams can leverage Data encryption to protect sensitive information such as personal, financial, or intellectual property. Full Disk Encryption is an efficient way to encrypt the entire hard drive or storage device where big data is stored; a perfect solution to protect all data on the device is protected, even if lost or stolen. Database encryption involves encrypting the data stored in a database. Encrypting a database ensures that even if the database is breached, the data is unreadable and unusable without the decryption key. CISOs should also consider encrypting the database at rest and in transit over the network. It is essential to choose a strong encryption algorithm, like Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and use a strong key that is long and complex enough to resist brute-force attacks. It is also crucial to managing encryption keys vigilantly to ensure they are not lost or stolen.
With proper implementation and management, data encryption can be an effective way to secure big data. Monitor and audit the encrypted data to ensure it remains secure and detect any unauthorized access attempts.
Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA is a security approach that needs users to authenticate multiple forms of authentication to access a system, application, or data. Embracing MFA will help the SecOps teams ensure that only authorized users can access the big data. Choose strong authentication factors that are difficult to guess or replicate, such as biometrics (e.g., fingerprint, face recognition), smart cards, or hardware tokens. CISOs consider designing and enforcing password policies that require users to create strong passwords and encourage users to use password managers to avoid password reuse.
Also Read: Seven Best Practices for Creating a Robust CSIRT
Access Control
Access control is a big data security that restricts access to data only to authorized individuals or systems. CISOs can enforce proper authentication, authorization, and auditing strategies to allow access to the big data to authorized users. Moreover, it is crucial to have role-based access privileges to ensure that users only have access to the data needed to perform their job functions. Control who can access and edit the data by setting up user permissions, role-based access control, and data segregation. Implement monitoring tools to track who is accessing the data, when they are accessing it, and what they are doing with it.
Network Security
Network security is essential for securing big data, as most data is stored and accessed over a network. Secure the network infrastructure with Network security measures like firewalls, virtual private networks (VPN), and intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS).
Data Backup and Recovery: Regular data backups are critical to ensure businesses do not lose their big data in a security breach or system failure. A proper data backup and recovery plan should be in place to minimize the impact of a security incident. It is crucial to ensure that data backups happen regularly and that the recovery, in case of loss or damage, is quick.
Data Masking
Data masking is another big data security approach that CISOs can consider to secure sensitive data by replacing it with fictitious data while maintaining its format and structure. This technique protects sensitive information such as credit cards or social security numbers.
Data Lifecycle Management: Data lifecycle management involves managing data from creation to disposal. It includes defining policies for data retention, archiving, and removal. This big data security strategy ensures that data is only kept as long as necessary and should be disposed of securely when it is no longer needed.
Also Read: Microsoft OneNote Starts Blocking Malicious File Extensions
Regular Security Audits
SecOps teams must conduct regular security audits to ensure that security measures are effective and the system is secure. An independent third party should perform audits, including penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and security reviews. Keep all software up to date with the latest security patches and updates to address those vulnerabilities promptly.
Big data security should be one of the top priorities of all organizations of all sizes, types, and industries to ensure compliance with all the privacy laws imposed.
For more such updates follow us on Google News ITsecuritywire News. Please subscribe to our Newsletter for more updates.
