Databases are essential for companies, since they store various types of information, such as personal data, bank data, among many others. The security of databases is at the top of the concerns of business leaders, since the exposure of confidential information can seriously compromise the entire structure of a business. Databases face the same challenges that information security faces, among them the guarantee of integrity, availability and confidentiality of information. Concern about maintaining 100 percent secure environments is now the primary focus of network administrators, because, according to several studies, most computer attacks that result in information theft are done by people who belong to the attacked organization. In today’s article we leave you some essential tips to ensure the security of databases.
Principles of Information Security
Confidentiality: ensure that information is only accessible to persons authorized to receive it;
Integrity: ensure that information can only be changed by authorized persons;
Availability: ensure that information is available whenever there is a need to consult it.
Practical tips to ensure information security
Cryptography
Encryption is a set of techniques used to protect information so that only authorized persons can access it. The word cryptography derives from the Greek, in which crypto means hidden and graphy means writing. In a very simple way, we can say that cryptography means hidden writing. The encryption techniques transform the data into codes, preventing them from being read by unauthorized persons. Only those who have the “key” of the file can perform the reading of the information.
Data masking
Data masking is primarily intended to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access. In practice, data masking tools create a version similar to the original data in terms of structure but without revealing its true information. In fact, its original format remains unchanged but the data presented is fictitious. Masked data can be used in test and auditing environments without compromising the result of the analysis, but always ensuring the confidentiality of sensitive information. A manual process to protect data consumes a lot of time and human resources so the best option is to resort to tools that do the process automatically, such as Datapeers.
Keep the information in the Cloud
Storing data in the Cloud is one of the best security precautions for businesses, both in terms of efficiency and security. Although there is still some concern about this new technology, storing the files in the Cloud is extremely secure and the latest studies prove just that. It is also advisable for company backups to be in the Cloud, as this form of backup offers several benefits over more traditional forms: increased portability, lower installation and maintenance costs and a higher level of security.
Automation of IT tasks
Many tasks in the area of information technologies are quite repetitive, which leads to demotivation by human resources and increases the probability of failures on the part of these. Automating processes is a way to reduce IT costs, as it is not necessary to highlight a collaborator to be exclusively dedicated to monotonous tasks. Automation reduces the time that the tasks take to execute and decreases the probability of human error. This is one of the most effective safety precautions you can implement.
Conduct audits frequently
An audit is the set of actions taken to verify what users are doing in the database. Many companies conduct these audits on a regular basis, since they are only able to verify that the database is not being accessed by unauthorized parties. Having regular audits also means that users are more careful in how they deal with the information because they know they will regularly be monitored.
Using a disaster recovery solution
For many security precautions that the company has, unfortunately it is not possible to guarantee the one hundred percent that is free of threats. And sometimes there are data losses that result from system failures or even from external attacks. When the evil is done, there is not much left to do, unless the company takes proactive action and protects itself with a disaster recovery solution. A solution of this type contemplates all actions and procedures to be taken in case of failures, in order to recover the computer services without compromising the data. Problems with servers, machine failures and viruses on the network are some of the problems that can happen in a company and compromise all security. RAAS is a service managed 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to ensure availability of your applications. RAAS is a disaster recovery service totally managed by specialized equipment and gives you the possibility to recover a virtual server in seconds.