Anyone responsible for ensuring the security of confidential data must protect the data being communicated over both the network domain they administer and external (untrusted) networks. Despite the promises made by external service providers, including carriers, cloud, hosting, or others attesting to the security of their respective platforms, the accountability for protecting this confidential data remains the responsibility of those entrusted with its care, custody, and control.
Factors including the network type (public or private), the kind of data, and those who need access to the network dictate the practices necessary to protect the data. Common approaches to securing data in its various modes of storage and communication rely on applied cryptography. Such examples can include:
- Securing Wifi Networks
- Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) channels to segregate networks within a managed environment
- Virutal Private Networking (VPN) to create a secure communications channel over an untrusted network.
- Transport Layer Security (TLS) for secure point-to-point communications between apps and services.
- File Encryption to ensure the security of files at rest either in the internal network environment, or in external cloud storage and archive environments.
Entrusting an external service provider to manage the security of the organizational IT infrastructure may impose risk, as the service provider, being an outside party, typically is not authorized to access the unprotected data placed under their care, custody, and control. 5-L can develop a policy to secure the data and transport platform before engaging an external party to manage, transport, or store confidential data.
Cryptography - Data Encryption“If you do not maintain the keys to the cryptography used to secure your data, then your data is not secure”
All confidential files, whether stored on a local network server or workstation must be protected from access by any unauthorized party. This can include external threat actors, internal staff, or IT/Security administrators with broad access.
5-L can guide you in the development of effective policy and implementation.