As data becomes increasingly valuable for improving customer and employee experiences, as well as making better business decisions, its protection has become a significant challenge. With companies continuously expanding their hybrid models, distributing critical data across cloud, third-party, and on-premise locations, they inadvertently increase the potential attack surface. Threat actors, in turn, are constantly developing new and creative ways to exploit security vulnerabilities.
Digital privacy and personal data
In response to this, many organizations are placing more focus on data protection. However, they often encounter a lack of clear guidelines and recommendations in this area. A data protection strategy involves a set of measures and processes designed to safeguard an organization’s sensitive information from loss and corruption. Its principles align with those of data protection itself: ensuring data integrity and supporting data availability.
The key difference between data protection and data security lies in the emphasis on accessibility and availability. While data security focuses on protecting digital privacy information from unauthorized access, data protection goes a step further. It includes the same security measures but also covers aspects like authentication, data backup, storage, and regulatory compliance, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Modern data protection strategies incorporate not only traditional measures like data backups and restoration functions but also business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plans, including Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). These comprehensive approaches not only deter threat actors but also standardize the management of sensitive data and corporate information security, limiting any potential business disruption caused by incidents.
Data supports a large part of the global economy, and cybercriminals are acutely aware of its value. Cyberattacks aimed at stealing sensitive information continue to rise. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach report, the global average cost to resolve a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, marking a 15% increase over three years. These breaches can lead to severe financial consequences, including lost business, customer attrition, reputation damage, and stolen intellectual property, which can harm profitability and erode competitive advantages. Data breach victims often face hefty regulatory fines and legal sanctions, as government regulations like GDPR and industry-specific regulations such as HIPAA mandate that companies protect their customers’ personal data.
