How can you use data privacy tools to monitor and audit access to sensitive information?
Learn from the community’s knowledge. Experts are adding insights into this AI-powered collaborative article, and you could too.
This is a new type of article that we started with the help of AI, and experts are taking it forward by sharing their thoughts directly into each section.
If you’d like to contribute, request an invite by liking or reacting to this article. Learn more
— The LinkedIn Team
Data privacy is a crucial aspect of cybersecurity, especially when it comes to sensitive information such as personal data, financial records, or intellectual property. Unauthorized or inappropriate access to such data can lead to breaches, leaks, or misuse that can harm your reputation, compliance, or security. Therefore, you need to use data privacy tools to monitor and audit access to sensitive information and ensure that only authorized and legitimate users can access it. In this article, we will show you how you can use some of the common data privacy tools to achieve this goal.
Data classification tools help you identify and categorize your sensitive information according to its level of sensitivity, value, or risk. For example, you can use data classification tools to label your data as public, internal, confidential, or restricted. This way, you can apply different policies, permissions, or encryption methods to each category of data and prevent unauthorized or unnecessary access. Data classification tools can also help you discover and locate your sensitive data across your network, devices, or cloud services and ensure that you have a clear inventory and visibility of your data assets.
-
Ratan Jyoti
CISO @ Ujjivan Small Finance Bank | CISA, CISSP,CDPSE,CIPM
Privacy is the design issue. Ignoring the design may lead to compromise the privacy and so the privacy by design is very important. Following are important strategies to make a privacy tool efficient to monitor and audit access to the sensitive information: 1. Software Design strategies & patterns 2. Data oriented design strategies 3. Role based access control. 4. Attribute based access control. 5. End to end authentication. 6. Key rotation, forward secrecy and coercion resistance 7. Privacy Threat Modelling, data masking, steganography, privacy resistance measures 8. Database privacy controls like de-anonymization attack resistance 9. Transparency and intervenability enhancement 10. Data Storage Privacy Controls and logging
-
Tom Vazdar
CEO and founder @ Riskoria | We help companies with transformative strategies that place the human element at the heart of cybersecurity.
By systematically categorizing data based on sensitivity and risk, organizations can enforce tailored access controls and encryption protocols, significantly mitigating the risk of unauthorized access.
-
Ishara Jayamanna
CISSP | MBA(reading) | MSc | AWS | Information Security Officer | Manager - IT Operations and Security
Organizations protect sensitive data by implementing role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication, encryption, and data loss prevention software. Audit logs and regular checks identify unauthorized access. Security systems like SIEM and PAM monitor for irregularities, and training plus vendor risk management ensure compliance and awareness across all levels of the organization.
Data access governance tools help you control and manage who can access your sensitive information and how they can use it. For example, you can use data access governance tools to define and enforce roles, rules, or workflows for data access and usage. This way, you can ensure that only authorized and authenticated users can access the data they need for their specific tasks and purposes and prevent excessive or inappropriate access. Data access governance tools can also help you monitor and audit data access activities and events and detect and respond to any anomalies, violations, or threats.
-
Naeem Dal
IT Support Specialist | System Administration
Indeed, Data access governance tools are instrumental in maintaining control over sensitive information access. It facilitates the establishment of specific roles, rules, and workflows governing data usage, ensuring that authorized users access data relevant to their designated tasks. This controlled approach limits inappropriate or excessive access. Moreover, these tools feature monitoring and auditing capabilities, enabling the tracking of data access activities. This monitoring helps identify anomalies, violations, or potential threats, allowing for proactive detection and response to security breaches or unauthorized data access. There are many tools, including Apache Atlas, Axon, Erwin Data Intelligence, IBM Cloud Pak, OEMM, SAP, etc.
-
Hendro, PMP, CISA, CISM, CISSP, CDPSE, CIPM, CDPO
Cyber Risk Director @Deloitte | Cyber, Data Privacy, Data Protection, Digital Identity
Data Access Governance is a tools that strike in between data privacy / protection and identity governance. The technology is helping you to define, manage and monitor the user access to specific sensitive data i.e. PII. Mostly this tool is used to secure unstructured data i.e. files, SharePoint, OneDrive, network drive and sometimes they are having data discovery capability to help you discover the data that you want to secure their access. One of the leading vendor for this area is Sailpoint Data Access Governance and Saviynt DAG which providing Identity Access Governance. However other Data Privacy tools sometime provides this capability tool i.e. Securiti, BigID.
-
Daniel Baloch
Cybersecurity Specialist | Practitioner | Ethicial Hacker | Researcher
Data access governance tools are like gatekeepers for your sensitive information. They help you control who gets access and how they use it. Think of it as defining rules and roles for data access – it's like handing out keys to specific rooms in a building. This ensures that only authorized users can access what they need for their tasks, preventing unauthorized or inappropriate access. Moreover, these tools keep an eye on data access, flagging any unusual activities or security breaches. They're your silent guardians in the world of cybersecurity, ensuring your data remains secure and accessible only to those who should have it.
Data masking tools help you protect your sensitive information from exposure or disclosure by replacing or obscuring the original data with fictitious or anonymized data. For example, you can use data masking tools to hide or mask personal identifiers, credit card numbers, or health records when you share or transfer data with external parties or when you use data for testing or development purposes. This way, you can reduce the risk of data breaches, leaks, or misuse and comply with data privacy regulations and standards.
-
Tom Vazdar
CEO and founder @ Riskoria | We help companies with transformative strategies that place the human element at the heart of cybersecurity.
I am advocating for utilizing data masking tools as it is a proactive approach to prevent the exploitation of sensitive data, thereby maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of organizational data assets.
-
Daniel Baloch
Cybersecurity Specialist | Practitioner | Ethicial Hacker | Researcher
Data masking tools act as digital disguises, protecting your sensitive information from prying eyes. Imagine them as the blur tool for your data. They replace or obscure the real data with fake or anonymized information, like concealing private details when sharing data with external parties or during testing. This ensures that even if data falls into the wrong hands, it's useless without the proper decryption or unmasking process. It's like putting a secret code on your information, keeping it safe and compliant with data privacy regulations.
Data encryption tools help you secure your sensitive information from unauthorized access or interception by converting the original data into an unreadable or scrambled form that can only be decrypted with a key or a password. For example, you can use data encryption tools to encrypt your data at rest, in transit, or in use and ensure that only authorized and intended recipients can access the data. This way, you can prevent data theft, loss, or tampering and enhance your data confidentiality and integrity.
-
Naeem Dal
IT Support Specialist | System Administration
Absolutely, data encryption tools play a fundamental role in safeguarding sensitive information. Encryption for Data Protection, Implement robust encryption tools to protect sensitive information. Encryption ensures that the data remains unreadable even if unauthorized users gain access. For instance, encrypting data guarantees that only authorized recipients can access it, shielding against potential threats like data theft, tampering, or loss. This proactive measure fortifies data integrity and confidentiality and mitigates the risks associated with unauthorized access.
-
Kannammal G
Award Winner Women Influencer of the Year 2023 | Google WTM Ambassador | Empowering Women in Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity Enthusiast | Cybersecurity Leader | Security Architect | Security Advocate | Speaker | Blogger
- Data loss prevention tools needs to be considered as a crucial component since this address both monitor and prevent the unauthorized movement of sensitive data within or outside the organization. (i.e Insider Threat and Extended Threat Surface Attack) - Legal and Ethical Considerations applied for those Monitoring considering the sensitivity of employee privacy - Integrating AI and ML Technology advancements mindfully can help efficiency and effectiveness of the Monitoring - Creating roles within an Org on Governance of Privacy tools and process ensuring Privacy by design is maintained throughout and also ensuring Data is not leaked/misused in tools to expose its sensitivity - Internal Privacy Reviews to Continually assess and Improve
-
Daniel Baloch
Cybersecurity Specialist | Practitioner | Ethicial Hacker | Researcher
Data encryption tools are like digital fortresses, locking away your sensitive information from prying eyes. They transform data into an unreadable code that only the rightful owner can decipher with the right key. Imagine sending a secret letter in a locked box, and only the recipient holds the key to open it. This ensures your data stays confidential and intact, whether it's sitting on your computer, traveling over the internet, or being used in an application. It's a critical safeguard against data breaches and tampering, upholding the integrity of your information in the digital realm.
Data retention tools help you manage and optimize the lifecycle of your sensitive information and ensure that you store, archive, or delete the data according to your business needs, legal obligations, or data privacy policies. For example, you can use data retention tools to set and apply retention periods, schedules, or rules for your data and ensure that you keep the data as long as necessary and dispose of it when no longer needed. This way, you can reduce the storage costs, complexity, and risks associated with data and comply with data retention regulations and standards.
-
Daniel Baloch
Cybersecurity Specialist | Practitioner | Ethicial Hacker | Researcher
Data retention tools act as the custodians of your digital archives, ensuring that your sensitive information is kept just as long as it serves a purpose and no longer. Imagine them as the librarians who carefully organize and eventually remove outdated books from the library shelves. These tools help you adhere to legal requirements and data privacy policies while efficiently managing the storage burden. It's like maintaining an organized and clutter-free digital space, reducing risks and complexities associated with data.
Using data privacy tools to monitor and audit access to sensitive information can bring many benefits, such as improving your data security and privacy posture, enhancing your data governance and compliance, increasing your data quality and value, and building your data trust and reputation. These tools can help reduce the likelihood and impact of data breaches, leaks, or misuse. Additionally, they can ensure that you follow the best practices and requirements of data privacy regulations and standards, as well as use accurate, relevant, and reliable data for your business decisions and operations. Moreover, they can help you respect the rights and expectations of your data subjects, customers, or partners.
-
Daniel Baloch
Cybersecurity Specialist | Practitioner | Ethicial Hacker | Researcher
Utilizing data privacy tools is like having a vigilant guardian for your sensitive information. These tools not only bolster your data security but also ensure your adherence to privacy regulations and standards, fostering trust among stakeholders. Think of them as the sentinels that stand watch over your data, reducing the risk of breaches and maintaining the integrity and quality of your valuable information, which, in turn, bolsters your organization's reputation in the digital realm.
-
Nathaniel Balakumaran
Legal Counsel at Infrastructure Ontario | Technology, IT Outsourcing, Procurement, Commercial, Corporate | Board Director
As a lawyer, understanding the use of data privacy tools for monitoring and auditing access to sensitive information is crucial. These tools can be employed to track access logs, identify unauthorized access, and ensure compliance with legal standards. Implementing robust access controls and regular audits is essential. This proactive approach not only safeguards client confidentiality but also aligns with legal obligations under data protection laws. It's important to stay updated on evolving legal frameworks to effectively use these tools in your practice.
-
Egoyibo Okoro
Data Protection @ Worldline | Data Protection Compliance Leader
To effectively manage access to sensitive data, an organisation needs to: • know, define for purpose and classify the data it processes according to applicable law(s) and business justification. These should be specified in policies and standard operating procedures. • assign data owners and data custodians to data sets per business unit or department. These are the champions who will enhance the data governance. • ensure that access to data is provisioned solely on a need-to-know basis. It is key that access logs and access control lists are maintained and reviewed to mitigate risks of unauthorised access. • obtain stakeholder engagement via robust training and awareness campaigns. An organisation is only as strong as its weakest link.
-
Gaurav Kumar Gupta
CISSP | CISM | RHCA | Cyber Security and Privacy Consulting, Security Architecture for E2E Mobile Network ,IaaS , PaaS , CaaS , PNF/VNF/CNF ,2G-5G , AI/ML
have WAF in your security controls , have DLP system in place , DPI solution in place , endpoint such as laptop disable usb , endpoint as in mobile phone have MDM , digital certificate or sognature for email , along with SIEM/SoC monitoring and great trainings
-
Andre Quintanilha
Co-founder & Chief Compliance Officer @ Palqee [we're hiring!!]
In my experience, a key factor for the success of data governance initiatives is stakeholders engagement and collaboration. Some of the benefits of internal collaboration for data privacy are: 1. It can improve communication and coordination among data owners, data users, data protection officers and IT staff, and ensure that everyone is aware of the data privacy policies and procedures. 2. It can foster a culture of trust and accountability, where everyone respects the privacy rights of data subjects and takes responsibility for protecting sensitive data. 3. It can enhance problem-solving and innovation, where different perspectives and skills can contribute to finding better solutions and improving data privacy practices.