Data security is becoming more important as the world becomes increasingly connected. According to IBM, the average data breach cost is $4.24 million dollars. This is not to mention the irreparable damage to the organization’s image, thereby lowering its value and reducing customer interaction.
A strong cybersecurity approach and data privacy standards can help to reduce the risk of data breaches and other hacks. These platforms are essential for a smooth running organization. However, they often get mixed up. It is difficult to know where cybersecurity and data privacy are located in an organization and how to prioritize them. Let’s talk about cybersecurity and data privacy and then show the differences between them. We’ll begin with a brief overview of cybersecurity.
What is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity can be described as hardware, software, best practices, and other terms that describe how to protect an IT environment. This is a broad definition that can be applied to many roles and responsibilities within an organization. Everyone has a role in protecting their company from threats, whether they are a software developer, cybersecurity analyst, or salesman. Let’s begin with how a software developer implements security practices.
Security by Design
Recent cybersecurity trends advocate that compliance should be initiated at the beginning of an application’s life, when it is actually being coded. Security By Design is the name of this concept. Let’s look at a quick example to illustrate this concept.
Let’s say that an insurance company wants to create an app that allows customers to get home insurance quotes based upon the information they have provided. Software engineers often have deadlines to meet certain functionalities. Security By Design recommends app security be included in the deadline. This is not an afterthought, as it happens so often. The deadline should include the time and resources needed to maintain a proper cybersecurity posture.
Security By Design is more than just socializing security needs. It requires attention at the coding level. For example, a software developer
It is necessary to log every data transmission. This allows for the tracking of any user data transfer, regardless of whether it is legal or not.
It is important to remember that sensitive user data must not be revealed in logs. This is a convergence between cybersecurity and data privacy. Data privacy is about protecting user data, while cybersecurity requires detailed audit trails.
Design by Security’s third topic is the idea that you can fail securely. We don’t want to provide a detailed explanation to the user about why a transaction failed when we build an insurance app. Intentionally vague information is best. Hackers may use error information to pretend to be software developers over the phone, or for other malicious activities.
Cybersecurity is a team effort
Many organizations have whole teams that are dedicated to cybersecurity. These teams review logs, examine code for vulnerabilities, and advocate for new security software. These teams will often include networking professionals with extensive experience in configuring firewalls and other IT infrastructure. The cybersecurity teams will also ensure that data privacy standards are adhered to.
Cybersecurity is more than the responsibility of developers and dedicated IT teams. Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. It is crucial to check emails for phishing attempts and verify who you are talking to over the phone. These are two of the most common vectors to attack. Everyone, from the CEO to the front desk receptionist, should be trained in cybersecurity awareness.
What is Data Privacy?
Cybersecurity and data privacy
