Companies create a large amount of data daily, which is also their most valuable asset. Global data is expected to reach 200 zettabytes by 2025, with data stored in the cloud projected to reach 100 zettabytes.
To maintain this data, your modern business enterprise needs strong data management options to keep its crucial information safe and secure for a long time.
That’s why enterprise storage systems act as a repository for your company’s sensitive data, and they also play a huge role in ensuring the security, accessibility, and integrity of your files.
However, your employees must know the best practices to keep your data safe and secure with enterprise storage solutions.
The eight best practices mentioned in this blog can help your organization in many ways.
#1: Regularly Backup Data and Test Restoration Methods
Regularly backing up data and testing restoration is an essential enterprise storage practice to ensure business continuity and minimize the risk of data loss. Automated, frequent backups protect against system failures, cyberattacks, or accidental data deletion by providing up-to-date copies of critical information.
However, the effectiveness of backups depends on reliably restoring them when needed. Therefore, it’s important to regularly test your restoration processes to confirm that backups can be recovered without errors or delays.
This practice ensures that your company can quickly restore its data and resume normal operations in an emergency. It helps you minimize downtime and safeguard valuable assets.
Backups are the lifeline of any data recovery plan. In a cyberattack like ransomware or a natural disaster, having recent and secure backups ensures your enterprise can quickly restore data and continue operating with minimal disruption.
#2: Implement robust encryption protocols.
Implementing robust encryption protocols is critical to secure sensitive data within an enterprise storage system. Encryption ensures that data, whether at rest or in transit, is converted into an unreadable format that can only be deciphered by authorized users with the correct decryption keys.
By protecting stored and transmitted data with strong encryption standards, such as AES-256 or TLS, your company can prevent unauthorized access even if cybercriminals breach your networks.
Moreover, effective key management is equally important, as encryption is only as secure as the keys. Overall, robust encryption safeguards your critical digital assets’ confidentiality, integrity, and security. It forms a vital layer of defense against cyber threats.
#3: Implement role-based access control (RBAC).
Implementing role-based access control (RBAC) is another crucial practice for managing data access within an organization. RBAC restricts access to digital assets based on an individual’s job role. It ensures that employees can only access the information necessary to perform their duties.
Moreover, this practice reduces the risk of unauthorized access by limiting exposure to sensitive data and preventing intentional and accidental breaches. Your company can further reduce security vulnerabilities by following the principle of least privilege, where users are granted the minimum access required.
#4: Adopt a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Policy
Adopting a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) policy is crucial to enhancing enterprise data security. MFA requires users to verify their identity through two or more independent authentication factors, such as a password, a fingerprint, or a one-time code sent to a mobile device.
This layered approach significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access by ensuring that an additional verification step is required even if one credential is compromised. By implementing MFA across critical systems, your company can better protect against cyberattacks, phishing, and credential theft.
#5: Invest in Advanced Storage Monitoring and Auditing Tools
Investing in advanced storage monitoring and auditing tools is important to maintain the security and efficiency of your enterprise storage systems. These tools provide real-time visibility into storage activities, tracking user access, data transfers, and unusual or suspicious behavior.
By continuously monitoring storage infrastructure, your company can quickly detect potential security threats, such as unauthorized access or data exfiltration, and take immediate action to mitigate risks.
#6: Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Solutions
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions are essential to protect your sensitive business information from accidental or malicious exposure. DLP tools help identify, monitor, and control data flows within and outside the enterprise to ensure that your company’s sensitive data, such as personal information, financial records, or intellectual property, is not improperly shared or leaked.
Furthermore, DLP solutions mitigate the risk of data breaches and compliance violations by setting up policies that automatically detect and block unauthorized attempts to transfer or access sensitive information.
#7: Utilize Data Deduplication and Compression
Utilizing data deduplication and compression is a strategic approach to optimize storage efficiency and reduce costs. Data deduplication eliminates redundant copies of data by identifying and removing duplicates.
Duplication saves your overall storage space and improves system performance by reducing the volume of data that needs to be managed. Compression further enhances efficiency by reducing the size of data files through various algorithms, making storage and data transfers faster and less costly.
#8: Ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Ensuring compliance with industry regulations is essential for protecting data and avoiding legal and financial repercussions. Regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS set strict guidelines for handling, storing, and protecting sensitive information.
Your company must adhere to these standards, which involve implementing appropriate security measures, conducting regular audits, and maintaining thorough documentation of data management practices. Compliance helps safeguard your digital assets and builds trust with customers and partners by demonstrating a commitment to data security and privacy.
Conclusion
Securing your company’s digital assets is an ongoing process that needs careful planning, the correct tools, and proper monitoring. The eight best practices mentioned in this article are crucial in keeping your data safe and secure from evolving digital threats. These technologies include encryption and backup strategies, advanced monitoring, and regulatory compliance. Remember, security is the biggest concern for businesses these days. That’s why you should always implement the best storage practices to keep your digital assets safe and secure.