What are the best strategies for securing data in the age of AI, IoT, and cloud computing?

1 Identify data assets and risks

The first step to securing data is to know what data you have, where it is stored, how it is used, and who is responsible for it. You need to conduct a data inventory and classification exercise to identify your data assets and their value, sensitivity, and regulatory requirements. You also need to assess the potential risks and threats to your data, such as cyberattacks, human errors, or natural disasters. This will help you prioritize your data protection efforts and allocate your resources accordingly.

3 Adopt data security best practices and standards

Securing data requires adopting data security best practices and standards that are in line with your data governance policies and procedures. Data security involves utilizing technical and organizational measures to protect your data from any unauthorized or accidental access, modification, disclosure, or destruction. Some of the recommended best practices and standards include encrypting your data at rest and in transit, implementing strong authentication and authorization mechanisms, applying the principle of least privilege and data minimization, performing regular backups and audits, updating your software and hardware, and following industry standards such as ISO 27001, GDPR, or HIPAA.

4 Monitor and manage data security incidents

The fourth step to securing data is to monitor and manage data security incidents that may occur despite your best efforts. Data security incidents are events that compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of your data. They can have serious consequences for your reputation, operations, and finances. You need to have a data security incident response plan that outlines how to detect, contain, analyze, resolve, and report data security incidents. You also need to have a data breach notification policy that specifies how to inform your customers, regulators, and other stakeholders in case of a data breach.

5 Review and improve your data security strategy

The fifth step to securing data is to review and improve your data security strategy on a regular basis. Data security is not a one-time project, but a continuous process that requires constant evaluation and adaptation. You need to measure the effectiveness of your data security strategy using key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, such as the number of data security incidents, the time to resolve them, or the customer satisfaction. You also need to update your data security strategy to reflect the changes in your data assets, risks, technologies, and regulations.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?