Since so much of our personal information is now “out there” in cyberspace, privacy is seen as a fundamental human right, but how private can it really be? Data is everywhere, and its growth is exponential as a result of increased internet usage, the development of cloud technologies, and our increasing reliance on IoT devices.
Cybercriminals, who are particularly interested in gaining access to personally identifiable information (PII) they can easily sell and use for fraudulent reasons, have taken notice of the worth of data. The problem we have is that, while if data sharing is largely responsible for our digital environment, as individuals we wish to protect our fundamental right to privacy. Here’s where data security comes into play.
Regulations governing data protection put safeguards in place for how companies utilize our information. However, during the past two decades, data regulation has undergone a significant evolution to keep up with the quick advancements in technology and the explosion in online activity.
Organizations are subject to more stringent regulations in some sectors, such as financial services and healthcare, as a result of the enormous amounts of PII and sensitive data they hold. This makes these sectors a top target for cybercrime, and the volume of structured and historical data these companies keep also justifies investments in big data and machine learning technology, further compounding the difficulties in data protection. In the past several years, the financial services industry has seen a dramatic increase in creative technology, and despite our need for privacy, it appears we can’t get enough of digital solutions.
Customers have put their most private financial and personal information in the hands of banks and healthcare organizations for many years. The difference today is that there are far more ways to obtain that data due to a highly linked and digitalized society, making a breach much more likely. It should come as no surprise that these businesses have a lot of data privacy laws in place.
Implications of a data breach
Any industry can suffer devastating effects from a data breach, but in more established, long-standing industries like banking, many companies have relied on client trust to grow. With so many software startups vying for their clients, a publicly disclosed data breach might erode that confidence in addition to carrying significant financial risks.
We may anticipate seeing more privacy laws implemented as the competition in these sectors continues to fuel innovation, produce more data, and get businesses readying their infrastructures for increased connectivity.
Data protection has changed
Similar to how data security has developed to safeguard the altering settings in which the data dwells, data privacy policies have changed to accommodate expanding data volumes. A crucial component of any privacy regulation is data security.
Conclusion
Offering data discovery and data monitoring solutions is no longer sufficient to secure your data and ensure privacy is maintained in light of the widespread adoption of SaaS applications and APIs. By providing an integrated solution combining edge, application, and data security to safeguard your vital financial applications and sensitive client data, you can help compliance in far more ways than just database protection.