Data Security Posture vs. Data Privacy: Navigating the Intersection

Both are important for protecting personal information, and organizations should implement a comprehensive program that addresses both aspects. In this article, let us explore the possibilities that data security and data privacy can unlock, along with their differences, uses, and best practices for robust security.

Data Security and Data Privacy: Different Sides of the Same Coin?

Data privacy is protection of an individual’s personal information and handling of sensitive data as per governing privacy laws and regulations. Data privacy emphasizes the fact that people have control over their data, and that trading a person’s data purely for business gains is unethical and contradicts the idea of privacy. It ensures personal data is collected, stored, and processed lawfully.

On the other side, data security posture management is more oriented towards the aggregated security measures undertaken by an organization for protecting its data. This ranges from incorporating security controls, dealing with security standards and having an action plan for mitigating risks.

Although the line seems blurry when it comes to defining these two terms, the point of difference comes down to where these measures are implemented. Data security focuses on technical and organizational security measures, whereas data privacy looks into legal considerations related to the collection and handling of user data.

Common Characteristics Between Data Security and Data Privacy

In the above section, we discussed the differentiating point, now, let us look at the similarities between DSPM and data privacy.

It is a matter of concern for organizations to possess a solid data security posture which would serve as a firewall against unauthorized access, mutation, disclosure or destruction. In addition, they also need to conform with privacy laws and regulations to uphold the privacy of an individual’s data.

Let us brush through some of the similarities between data security posture and data privacy:

• Protecting Sensitive Data: Protecting sensitive data against unauthorized access, disclosure, change, or destruction is an issue for both DSPM and data privacy. They seek to stop data breaches and guarantee that your data is secure and private.

• Both Involve Technical and Non-technical Controls: Data security and privacy require both technical and non-technical measures. While non-technical controls can help ensure that data is handled properly and that people are aware of the risks of data breaches, technical controls can help to prevent unauthorized access to data.

• Risk Management: Risk management is a component of both disciplines. While data privacy evaluates risks associated with the safe management and protection of personal information, DSPM determines and mitigates risks to the security of data.

• Data Classification: Data classification is involved in both DSPM and data privacy. Data is categorized according to its value and sensitivity, and appropriate security and privacy safeguards are then applied.

• Incident Response: Data privacy and DSPM both necessitate incident response planning. Organizations must have a well-defined response strategy in place in the case of a data breach or privacy incident to lessen the effect and adhere to breach notification laws.

DSPM and data privacy both place a strong emphasis on safeguarding sensitive data and guaranteeing its security and privacy, albeit having differing areas of focus. To create a comprehensive data protection framework that includes security posture management and privacy compliance, organizations need to handle both issues.

Ways to Improve Data Security and Uphold Data Privacy

Whenever an organization starts growing and expanding, the odds of data attacks fairly increase, hence, in order to stay unaffected from data attack attempts, organizations should have a strong security system in place. But, there’s always a possibility to beat the existing system and find a loophole. So, implementing security is not a one time thing, it is an evolving system that needs to be updated frequently.

Let us look at some of the ways to keep improving data security while upholding data privacy.

Incorporate Data Encryption

To begin with, a simple no-brainer step is to incorporate data encryption. Use effective encryption methods to safeguard data while it is in transit and at rest. By doing this, you can make sure that even if someone gains access to your data without your permission, it will still be unreadable and useless without the encryption keys.

Robust Access Control

This encryption needs to be complemented with robust access control, where the system grants access only to those individuals with appropriate authorization. This restricts access to sensitive data to authorized personnel only, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

Cloud Secure Strategy

More often than not, data is stored on the cloud, and if so, it is recommended to adopt a cloud secure strategy. For this, it's necessary to comprehend the shared responsibility model, make use of cloud-native security features, and data security in the cloud environment.

Build Security and Privacy Into the Development Process

Moving ahead, when it comes to data privacy and introducing new features, security and data privacy needs to be a part of the development cycle and shouldn’t be treated as an optional component. To inculcate such strategies, organizations can introduce strong policies and regulations concerning handling of data.

Training Programs and Assessments

Moreover, context awareness can be brought to employees via training programs and assessments, this not only imparts knowledge of data security but also reduces the chances of security attacks.

Regular Data Backups

Lastly, regular data backups should be done to mitigate loss of data in case of a security incident or system failure.

Conclusion

Although DSPM and data privacy have different areas of focus, it is fair to say that they both center around protecting sensitive data and ensuring its security and privacy. To create a comprehensive data protection framework that includes security posture management and privacy compliance, organizations need to handle both issues.

By implementing the steps and strategies discussed above, businesses can substantially improve their data security and privacy procedures, protecting sensitive data and upholding stakeholder and customer trust.

Check the comment section for additional information, or share what you know or ask a question about this article, by clicking the 'View or Write Comment' button below.

Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.