Archiving critical for information control and compliance

Reinforcing data security policies demands that corporations implement advanced technologies for information management. Enterprises can leverage these solutions for greater security in disaster recovery as well as regulatory compliance, both of which support business continuity.

According to research conducted by The Guardian, 62 percent of organizations perceive accidental data loss as a major threat to business. The main concerns cited with facing a data leak included damage to the business's reputation (31 percent), financial consequences (20 percent) and compliance issues (18 percent). The survey results emphasized that there is a strong need for improving information governance practices so that enterprises are more capable of tracking and finding data that is created and shared within the organization. Particularly as businesses adopt bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and data is being exchanged across an increasing number of channels and platforms, IT security now encompasses the movement of information outside of the database. The Guardian reported that as a result of these changes, businesses must develop better ways of dealing with information for security and compliance purposes.

In an interview with Bank Info Security, Andrew Serwin, Lares Institute chief executive, explained that in order to address data security threats, enterprises should adopt strategies for information superiority. He defined this superiority as the ability to use information in an advantageous way while preventing unauthorized users from doing the same.

"A corporate executive's job is to make decisions, and the best way to make good decisions is to have the right information at the right time," he told the news source. "Information superiority will let you do that whether you're making a decision on how to increase profit or more importantly … how to increase IT security."

Regulations demand new solutions
Increasing security tactics and solutions will be especially important considering tighter regulations regarding data retention. ITWeb reported that the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) bill is one piece of legislation that will be driving urgency for better information governance. Allison Walton, eDiscovery counsel at Symantec, told the news source that managing information has become more challenging due to the constant growth of information. She stressed that organizations need to be able to securely retain and retrieve data across IT, legal and other departments for greater control and compliance. In order to achieve this, Walton explained that businesses must have consistent policies to prevent data loss as well as have advanced archiving and search capabilities. She further asserted that companies must classify files for use in the eDiscovery process and then use technology to assist all future data classification.

By implementing tools to better retain, store and back up critical information, enterprises are more likely to meet increasing regulations while protecting important systems.

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