Data security

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Data security means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users, [1] such as a cyberattack or a data breach. [2]

Contents

Technologies

Disk encryption

Disk encryption refers to encryption technology that encrypts data on a hard disk drive. [3] Disk encryption typically takes form in either software (see disk encryption software) or hardware (see disk encryption hardware). Disk encryption is often referred to as on-the-fly encryption (OTFE) or transparent encryption.

Software versus hardware-based mechanisms for protecting data

Software-based security solutions encrypt the data to protect it from theft. However, a malicious program or a hacker could corrupt the data to make it unrecoverable, making the system unusable. Hardware-based security solutions prevent read and write access to data, which provides very strong protection against tampering and unauthorized access.

Hardware-based security or assisted computer security offers an alternative to software-only computer security. Security tokens such as those using PKCS#11 or a mobile phone may be more secure due to the physical access required in order to be compromised. [4] Access is enabled only when the token is connected and the correct PIN is entered (see two-factor authentication). However, dongles can be used by anyone who can gain physical access to it. Newer technologies in hardware-based security solve this problem by offering full proof of security for data. [5]

Working off hardware-based security: A hardware device allows a user to log in, log out and set different levels through manual actions. The device uses biometric technology to prevent malicious users from logging in, logging out, and changing privilege levels. The current state of a user of the device is read by controllers in peripheral devices such as hard disks. Illegal access by a malicious user or a malicious program is interrupted based on the current state of a user by hard disk and DVD controllers making illegal access to data impossible. Hardware-based access control is more secure than the protection provided by the operating systems as operating systems are vulnerable to malicious attacks by viruses and hackers. The data on hard disks can be corrupted after malicious access is obtained. With hardware-based protection, the software cannot manipulate the user privilege levels. A hacker or a malicious program cannot gain access to secure data protected by hardware or perform unauthorized privileged operations. This assumption is broken only if the hardware itself is malicious or contains a backdoor. [6] The hardware protects the operating system image and file system privileges from being tampered with. Therefore, a completely secure system can be created using a combination of hardware-based security and secure system administration policies.

Backups

Backups are used to ensure data that is lost can be recovered from another source. It is considered essential to keep a backup of any data in most industries and the process is recommended for any files of importance to a user. [7]

Data masking

Data masking of structured data is the process of obscuring (masking) specific data within a database table or cell to ensure that data security is maintained and sensitive information is not exposed to unauthorized personnel. [8] This may include masking the data from users (for example so banking customer representatives can only see the last four digits of a customer's national identity number), developers (who need real production data to test new software releases but should not be able to see sensitive financial data), outsourcing vendors, etc. [9]

Data erasure

Data erasure is a method of software-based overwriting that completely wipes all electronic data residing on a hard drive or other digital media to ensure that no sensitive data is lost when an asset is retired or reused. [10]

International laws and standards

International laws

In the UK, the Data Protection Act is used to ensure that personal data is accessible to those whom it concerns, and provides redress to individuals if there are inaccuracies. [11] This is particularly important to ensure individuals are treated fairly, for example for credit checking purposes. The Data Protection Act states that only individuals and companies with legitimate and lawful reasons can process personal information and cannot be shared. Data Privacy Day is an international holiday started by the Council of Europe that occurs every January 28. [12]

Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union (EU) became law on May 25, 2018, organizations may face significant penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of their annual revenue if they do not comply with the regulation. [13] It is intended that GDPR will force organizations to understand their data privacy risks and take the appropriate measures to reduce the risk of unauthorized disclosure of consumers’ private information. [14]

International standards

The international standards ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and ISO/IEC 27002:2013 cover data security under the topic of information security, and one of its cardinal principles is that all stored information, i.e. data, should be owned so that it is clear whose responsibility it is to protect and control access to that data. [15] [16] The following are examples of organizations that help strengthen and standardize computing security:

The Trusted Computing Group is an organization that helps standardize computing security technologies.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary international information security standard for organizations that handle cardholder information for the major debit, credit, prepaid, e-purse, automated teller machines, and point of sale cards. [17]

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) proposed by the European Commission will strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the EU, whilst addressing the export of personal data outside the EU.

See also

Related Research Articles

Network security consists of the policies, processes and practices adopted to prevent, detect and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network security involves the authorization of access to data in a network, which is controlled by the network administrator. Users choose or are assigned an ID and password or other authenticating information that allows them access to information and programs within their authority. Network security covers a variety of computer networks, both public and private, that are used in everyday jobs: conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can be private, such as within a company, and others which might be open to public access. Network security is involved in organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions. It does as its title explains: it secures the network, as well as protecting and overseeing operations being done. The most common and simple way of protecting a network resource is by assigning it a unique name and a corresponding password.

Internet security is a branch of computer security. It encompasses the Internet, browser security, web site security, and network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet is an inherently insecure channel for information exchange, with high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing, online viruses, trojans, ransomware and worms.

An information security audit is an audit of the level of information security in an organization. It is an independent review and examination of system records, activities, and related documents. These audits are intended to improve the level of information security, avoid improper information security designs, and optimize the efficiency of the security safeguards and security processes. Within the broad scope of auditing information security there are multiple types of audits, multiple objectives for different audits, etc. Most commonly the controls being audited can be categorized as technical, physical and administrative. Auditing information security covers topics from auditing the physical security of data centers to auditing the logical security of databases, and highlights key components to look for and different methods for auditing these areas.

Information security standards or cyber security standards are techniques generally outlined in published materials that attempt to protect the cyber environment of a user or organization. This environment includes users themselves, networks, devices, all software, processes, information in storage or transit, applications, services, and systems that can be connected directly or indirectly to networks.

Privacy software, also called privacy platform, is software built to protect the privacy of its users. The software typically works in conjunction with Internet usage to control or limit the amount of information made available to third parties. The software can apply encryption or filtering of various kinds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BitLocker</span> Disk encryption software for Microsoft Windows

BitLocker is a full volume encryption feature included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with Windows Vista. It is designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. By default, it uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm in cipher block chaining (CBC) or "xor–encrypt–xor (XEX)-based Tweaked codebook mode with ciphertext Stealing" (XTS) mode with a 128-bit or 256-bit key. CBC is not used over the whole disk; it is applied to each individual sector.

Information assurance (IA) is the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. Information assurance includes protection of the integrity, availability, authenticity, non-repudiation and confidentiality of user data. IA encompasses both digital protections and physical techniques. These methods apply to data in transit, both physical and electronic forms, as well as data at rest. IA is best thought of as a superset of information security, and as the business outcome of information risk management.

Disk encryption is a technology which protects information by converting it into code that cannot be deciphered easily by unauthorized people or processes. Disk encryption uses disk encryption software or hardware to encrypt every bit of data that goes on a disk or disk volume. It is used to prevent unauthorized access to data storage.

There are a number of security and safety features new to Windows Vista, most of which are not available in any prior Microsoft Windows operating system release.

ISO/IEC 27002 is an information security standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), titled Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection — Information security controls.

Hardware-based full disk encryption (FDE) is available from many hard disk drive (HDD/SSD) vendors, including: Hitachi, Integral Memory, iStorage Limited, Micron, Seagate Technology, Samsung, Toshiba, Viasat UK, Western Digital. The symmetric encryption key is maintained independently from the computer's CPU, thus allowing the complete data store to be encrypted and removing computer memory as a potential attack vector.

Pre-boot authentication (PBA) or power-on authentication (POA) serves as an extension of the BIOS, UEFI or boot firmware and guarantees a secure, tamper-proof environment external to the operating system as a trusted authentication layer. The PBA prevents anything being read from the hard disk such as the operating system until the user has confirmed they have the correct password or other credentials including multi-factor authentication.

Cloud computing security or, more simply, cloud security, refers to a broad set of policies, technologies, applications, and controls utilized to protect virtualized IP, data, applications, services, and the associated infrastructure of cloud computing. It is a sub-domain of computer security, network security, and, more broadly, information security.

ISO/IEC 27001 is an international standard to manage information security. The standard was originally published jointly by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 2005, revised in 2013, and again most recently in 2022. There are also numerous recognized national variants of the standard. It details requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS) – the aim of which is to help organizations make the information assets they hold more secure. Organizations that meet the standard's requirements can choose to be certified by an accredited certification body following successful completion of an audit. The effectiveness of the ISO/IEC 27001 certification process and the overall standard has been addressed in a large-scale study conducted in 2020.

Storage security is a specialty area of security that is concerned with securing data storage systems and ecosystems and the data that resides on these systems.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to computer security:

Data-centric security is an approach to security that emphasizes the dependability of the data itself rather than the security of networks, servers, or applications. Data-centric security is evolving rapidly as enterprises increasingly rely on digital information to run their business and big data projects become mainstream. It involves the separation of data and digital rights management that assign encrypted files to pre-defined access control lists, ensuring access rights to critical and confidential data are aligned with documented business needs and job requirements that are attached to user identities.

ISO/IEC 27701:2019 is a privacy extension to ISO/IEC 27001. The design goal is to enhance the existing Information Security Management System (ISMS) with additional requirements in order to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve a Privacy Information Management System (PIMS). The standard outlines a framework for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Controllers and PII Processors to manage privacy controls to reduce the risk to the privacy rights of individuals.

This is a list of cybersecurity information technology. Cybersecurity is security as it is applied to information technology. This includes all technology that stores, manipulates, or moves data, such as computers, data networks, and all devices connected to or included in networks, such as routers and switches. All information technology devices and facilities need to be secured against intrusion, unauthorized use, and vandalism. Additionally, the users of information technology should be protected from theft of assets, extortion, identity theft, loss of privacy and confidentiality of personal information, malicious mischief, damage to equipment, business process compromise, and the general activity of cybercriminals. The public should be protected against acts of cyberterrorism, such as the compromise or loss of the electric power grid.

References

  1. ↑ Summers, G. (2004). Data and databases. In: Koehne, H Developing Databases with Access: Nelson Australia Pty Limited. p4-5.
  2. ↑ "Knowing Your Data to Protect Your Data". IT Business Edge. 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  3. ↑ "Full disk encryption (FDE)". encyclopedia.kaspersky.com. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  4. ↑ Thanh, Do van; Jorstad, Ivar; Jonvik, Tore; Thuan, Do van (2009). "Strong authentication with mobile phone as security token". 2009 IEEE 6th International Conference on Mobile Adhoc and Sensor Systems. pp. 777–782. doi:10.1109/MOBHOC.2009.5336918. ISBN   978-1-4244-5114-2. S2CID   5470548.
  5. ↑ Stubbs, Rob (Sep 10, 2019). "Why the World is Moving to Hardware-Based Security". Fortanix. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  6. ↑ Waksman, Adam; Sethumadhavan, Simha (2011), "Silencing Hardware Backdoors" (PDF), Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, Oakland, California, archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-09-28
  7. ↑ "Back-ups | Stay Smart Online". Archived from the original on 2017-07-07.
  8. ↑ "Data Masking Definition". Archived from the original on 2017-02-27. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "data masking". Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  10. ↑ Michael Wei; Laura M. Grupp; Frederick E. Spada; Steven Swanson (2011). "Reliably Erasing Data From Flash-Based Solid State Drives". FAST'11: Proceedings of the 9th USENIX conference on File and storage technologies. Wikidata   Q115346857 . Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  11. ↑ "data protection act". Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Peter Fleischer, Jane Horvath, Shuman Ghosemajumder (2008). "Celebrating data privacy". Google Blog. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ "GDPR Penalties". Archived from the original on 2018-03-31.
  14. ↑ "Detect and Protect for Digital Transformation". Informatica. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "ISO/IEC 27001:2013". ISO. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  16. ↑ "ISO/IEC 27002:2013". ISO. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  17. ↑ "PCI DSS Definition". Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
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