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What are the benefits of data classification?
How can data classification help with securing your data?
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2 Answers
Let's play devil's advocate with some data... imagine it got into the wrong hands, then what's the worst that can happen?
If, for that particular piece of data, the answer is 'who cares!' then it's likely to be just general purpose data that anyone can see without adverse consequences.
If the answer is 'we don't want anyone outside the company to see that', then the data is for internal use only and (at least) company proprietary.
If the answer is "that could give an competitor an advantage" , or "we only want selected people to see that data" then it's classification should be (at least) company confidential.
If the answer is along the lines or "we could be in trouble with government/federal agencies" , "that could seriously harm the reputation of the company" , "that could put lives at risk" , etc etc then the classification should be (at least) highly confidential.
Do the 'who cares?' test for all of your data in order to determine the classification, then the higher the classification the more security (and the more investment in security) it needs. Securing all of you general purpose data as if it were highly confidential would be hugely wasteful considering the terrabytes and terrabytes of data companies generate. Even worse, having highly confidential data that is not properly secured puts your company at great risk.
In other words, the first benefit of data classification is that investment to secure your data can be targetted correctly. The examples I've given above are very simplistic. In building your IT Security Policy you would likely have a set of more sophisticated questions to ask and/or data classifications appropriate to your needs.
Robert,
Data classification can greatly assist your staff in determining how they can handle the information they are viewing. Not all employees have the full grasp of the strategic value of all the information they see. When you classify the information they are empowered with the guidelines of what they can do. They will then know what can be discussed openly, what is only to be discussed within their department, or what they can openly discuss with a client or contractor.
This is a high level tactic that can pay off in industries that are highly competitive or if your business relies on proprietary information. The classification must be put in place in parallel with policies. The policies need to be strictly enforced from day 1 so that it becomes a part of your culture.
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