The technologies that will enable optimised data security already exist, but businesses are resting on their laurels.
Data gathered by Governing indicates that in 2023 over 353 million individuals were affected by data compromises, including data breaches, leakage, and exposure. Figures this high call for systemic and industry-wide change and suggest that a revamp in how data security is approached is long overdue.
Simon Bain, OmniIndex’s CEO argues that there are three key areas to consider when building and deploying competent and modern security defenses. Luckily, all three of them already exist and are available to use:
1. Adopting a zero trust model
Zero trust is a framework for securing infrastructure and data for today’s modern digital transformation. It addresses the modern challenges of business, including securing remote workers, hybrid cloud environments, and ransomware threats.
Bain: “With the amount of data that is created today, managing it, storing it and making sure that only authorized people have access to it is becoming one of the hardest jobs within data management. To help mitigate this problem, a zero trust model will enable an organization to put in place best practice for data access and storage. However, this alone does not stop data leakages or ransomware attacks.”
“While many vendors have tried to create their own definitions of zero trust, there are a number of standards from recognized organizations that can help you align Zero Trust with your organization. By adding zero trust to the data in addition to the other areas within an organization, you’ll create a more durable foundation for the data.”
2. Leveraging the advancements of an open source database
PostgreSQL is a powerful, free, and open source database system built for reliability and handling massive amounts of data. This makes it an attractive choice for companies to store everything from user accounts and customer data through to website logs.
Bain: “As PostgreSQL is open source, it is constantly being improved by a large community of developers that use it. It is a direct result of this thorough and collaborative approach that PostgreSQL has high levels of resilience, integrity, and correctness.
“PostgreSQL is already used as the primary data store or data warehouse for many web, mobile, geospatial, and analytics applications including Apple, Netflix, Spotify and Uber as well as tens of thousands of other companies of all sizes.”
Stack Overflow named Postgres as the most used database in their annual developers survey with 45% reporting to use it compared to 41% for MySQL. As such, people know how to use it with its system being industry standard and fully embedded in people’s workflows.
Bain continued: “In truth, it is actually one of the most advanced database engines in the world with support for many different technical services including AI, ML and SQL. What truly makes Postgres stand out and keeps it at the top of the field is that it is actively maintained with a lot of developers maintaining and extending it to keep it not just up to date with the latest advancements, but also ahead of the trends.”
3. Web3: That’s all blockchain and crypto, isn’t it?
Web3 is the third generation of the world wide web, which involves direct immersion into the digital world. It encompasses individual control of personal data as well as the use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Much more than cryptocurrency, web3 remains in constant development and acts as a vision of a decentralized and open web with greater utility for its users.
Bain: “Blockchain certainly uses web3 and the concepts of web3 are built on to the foundations of Blockchain. However, it actually is far more than this. It adds layers of security that mean data is better protected, there is clearer oversight of data use, without compromising the data.
“And the data is more resilient to cyberattacks because only those people who have been granted permission by the data owner are able to access the data. By using a web3 database, your data is not only more resilient to attacks, but it becomes a core part of your zero trust model.”
Out with the old, in with the new
Bain: “There are many areas where data security is hampered by the outdated attitudes and belief systems of the 2000s and 2010s. For example, modern security features shouldn’t compromise data use, data should be analyzed at insertion, data must be encrypted at all times and the data owner should decide who has access.
“Addressing the challenges of modern data security starts with the three key areas mentioned, and relies on progressive attitudes to security that embrace modern technology. Relying on outdated, frequently breached methods and models will only see the figures on data theft and breach rise year-on-year.”
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