3 Best Practices for Data Security

The recent cyber crime rate is reason enough for data center and business owners to take action. Here are some recent headlines that sent shivers down the spines of business owners:

• Home Depot reported a loss of 53 million email addresses.
• The Target breach is reported to have an estimated cost of $1 billion.
• Michaels had a theft that resulted in the loss of 3 million+ payment cards.

Since 2007, the cyber insurance industry has witnessed a $400 million growth. Here are three best practices for data security for your enterprise.

• Storing Customer Information: There are as many as 450 bills passed in the State of California regarding rules on holding customer information. Being compliant with state and local regulations regarding data security is the first and most mandatory step to be taken to ensure a secure home for your data.
• Using Technology: There are a number of ways for technology to be of use when implementing your organization’s privacy policy. Some of the easier methods are as follows:
  • Updated firewalls, spyware and virus programs.
  • Using Layered Security: Implementing 2 cheaper solutions instead of 1 state of the art solution can often be a more effective technique. The logic behind this is to avoid having only a single point of failure. Therefore, for logging in visitor identity at the data center, a key card scheme alongside a security camera is better than going in for a single bio-metric control.
• Industry Rules: Most industries mandate their own regulations with regards to customer information, payment information and other personal information. For example, in the Health Care Industry, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) dictates that patient information is not to be taken as a corporate asset and is to be protected as patient’s property.

When it comes to cyber security, the area is new for most, and it appears to be complex. Therefore, many avoid the situation. There are, however, better ways like professional outsourcing, which can save your organization the time, cost and effort of performing such activities in-house. For more information on why you should outsource your data center, download our “8 Reasons Companies Outsource Their Primary Data Center” white paper:

Rich Banta

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Rich is responsible for Compliance and Certifications, Data Center Operations, Information Technology, and Client Concierge Services. Rich has an extensive background in server and network management, large scale wide-area networks, storage, business continuity, and monitoring. Rich is a former CTO of a major health care system. Rich is hands-on every day in the data centers. He also holds many certifications, including: CISA – Certified Information Systems Auditor CRISC – Certified in Risk & Information Systems Management CDCE – Certified Data Center Expert CDCDP – Certified Data Center Design Professional