Data security is the protection of data from elements that intend on destroying it, corrupting it or receive unauthorized access for malicious purposes. Data security is practiced in the following forms:
Data exists in varied forms ranging from documents, videos, personal logs, intellectual property and other details that are intended to be kept safe from all forms of harm.
What is disk encryption?
Disk encryption is technology that protects data on a hard drive. Disk encryption can either exist in software or hardware form and is commonly referred to as ‘on the fly encryption’.
What are software and hardware based mechanisms?
Software-based security mechanisms offer users to encrypt their data in order for it to be protected from theft. However, this form of mechanism can still be bypassed by a proficient hacker or malicious program, making recovery of that data near-impossible. If there is a high security alert concerning the data present in storage mediums, then it is always recommended to use hardware-based security mechanisms can prevent read and write access. This approach is far more resourceful and offers better protection against hackers and malicious software.
Another alternative solution to this is full-disk encryption or FDE. FDE provides some of the best encryption methods possible. This particular technology is able to secure every piece of data stored on a storage medium (which can range from hard drives, to flash memory). Additionally, FDE becomes even more robust when storage mediums use software based passwords or keys to protect the data. This approach is known as end-based or end-point full disk encryption.
What is data purging?
Data purging is a software based method that completely overwrites the data present on the hard drive or any other digital media. In this way, no sensitive information is leaked. Furthermore, this method is only taken place as a last resort; when the information present inside that storage medium needs to be replaced with newer pieces of data.
What is data masking?
Data masking is the process of hiding sensitive data on part of a hard drive while keeping the rest of it visible. In an organization, different personnel will have access to different files, while the remaining data will be masked in order to prevent unnecessary alteration or deletion.
As stated earlier, Data Security exists in several forms and in order to main robust security, constant revisions are taking place in order to increase security contingencies.
