Table of Contents
Digital systems are designed to protect the most sensitive data from criminals. Loss of privacy, loss of money and damage to a company’s reputation, and the loss of functionality in critical infrastructure are all consequences of a data breach. Security is not just the responsibility of IT, it is the responsibility of every digital system user.
In this article, we take you through the most important concepts and disconnected jargon and filler language found in IT security, data privacy, and cyber security.
In our modern digital landscape, safeguarding our data means protecting the information stored across devices, networks and endpoints. IT, data privacy, and cyber security all have a common end goal – preventing digital breaches and loss of information of individuals and financial entities. With services like Radaris, clients can find what data and records are available to the public concerning their identity, and take actions to manage what they can keep private. With Radaris, people can check public records and online profiles to manage the protection of their personal data to a higher degree.
What IT Security Means
IT security is the practice of using various protective measures to attempt to keep your systems and your data safe from risks and threats. Protection can come from technical measures like configuring software, and hardware, and employing certain protective measures to govern how networks work.
Protection can also come from human behaviour like people’s use of passwords and how they respond to questionable situations. An important aspect of every security system is the ability to restrict access on a need-to-know basis. IT security systems use credentials and various authentication techniques to assure that only the entitled individuals can access a system. The best practice of authentication is to use multiple layers of authentication. That way if one level of the authentication is weak, other levels will help to ensure security. Another of the main parts is protecting data through encryption.
Encryption allows to code data and only a select few who have a key are able to read it. This method protects data both stored on a device and data being transmitted through a network. If a person is able to intercept an encrypted message, it is strange enough no one else on the network will be able to read it. This is a good reason for almost everyone to have a good reason to be having encryption of some kind.
Data Protection
Data protection is about the control and access of a person’s data, the collection process of it, and who it is shared with. Every data protection legislation gives the data subject the right to be informed about who the data controller is, what data is being captured, and how it is going to be processed.
This right ensures that one’s personal data is not subjected to uncontrolled and arbitrary exposure. Every company is expected to manage data with due diligence. For an organisation to comply with privacy regulations, it has to develop and implement policies regarding the collection of data of individuals and how it will be used. Businesses must put data protection practices in place to ensure the safety of personal information of both employees and customers.
How Cyber Security Fits In
Defending against attacks that come through digital networks is known as cyber security and includes the protection of attacks on systems and data by criminals, state enemies, and bad-acting individuals. Another threat is malware, which is software that is meant to damage or take control of systems. Cyber security is layered and each layer works simultaneously with other functions.
For example, a firewall analyses and controls the traffic in and out of a network. The firewall, monitoring, and backup systems are all examples of cyber security activity working to ensure that a single compromise of one of the layers does not result in the overall cyber security system being completely compromised.
Learning By Doing
- Cybersecurity training helps people understand both the basics and deeper concepts of a subject.
- Organisations such as CM-Alliance offer workshops and Cyber Incident Response training programmes for individuals and teams to learn about the threats that face their organisations and what their responses should be to cybersecurity incidents.
- Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercises simulate real-life cyber attack scenarios so participants know how to think and act during a crisis.
- Training is not only for technical staff; leaders and policymakers also need to understand threats and risks.
- Understanding risks helps leaders make informed decisions about investments and policies.
- Other team members also benefit from knowing the basics to support quicker and better decisions under pressure.
Understanding the fact that an attack might happen is not enough. Your team must also be equipped to respond to the attack with strategic planning that helps mitigate damage. You can simulate realistic attack scenarios to test how your team members will execute their roles and responsibilities in the event of an attack. It is a win-win situation – everybody gets to improve. Being prepared limits the consequences of security incidents. Organisations discover which parts of their systems have weak security and which can be attacked, and they alter those systems to improve security before the weaknesses can be exploited.
Selecting options that restrict visibility of sensitive information on social media is critical. Sometimes keeping data safe does not take super special tools and just keeping up different daily habits can make a big difference. Services like Radaris let people see what information about themselves is publicly available and lets them see what information they can be vulnerable with. Organisations and people can focus on these small actions so they can increase privacy and security without needing super advanced technology.
It’s helpful to get assistance with security from people or agencies that one can trust. This ensures that the assistance is based on genuine expertise and exemplary practice. An example of a resource that a large number of people use is Radaris. It is useful to understand the insight and identity the public records a person has.