With millions of connected devices, the amount of data continues to grow faster than ever, creating a global data sphere that is projected to reach 149 zettabytes by 2024. Companies are in a race to modernize their data intelligence stack with automated processes designed to maximize the value of their data for business insights and to create a competitive edge.
Pumping the breaks of innovation are the alphabet soup of privacy regulations, with good reason. As expectations of highly personalized consumer experiences continue to increase, the data supporting these efforts have served up a royal buffet for black-hat hackers and cybercriminals around the world.
What companies need to be aware of is that the weak link to their worst nightmare – even more so than the super admin user that forgot to properly secure their data store – is their very own data consumers.
Roles by Employees
The “super user” is in the front line of data protection, providing access to the right data for the right people at the right time. Now, with the increasing number of data consumers and need for speedy access using attribute and role-based authorization to data, it’s harder than ever to keep up with ever-changing roles, new data sets, and appropriate permissions. Like Jill moves from human resources to a marketing role but still has access to applications and data not synced with her current permissions.
As companies migrate to the cloud, the notion of the original perimeter is gone. This new normal requires full visibility and control over your applications and data – who’s accessing it and how often. You may have heard of Privileged Access Management (PAM), which “consists of cybersecurity strategies and technologies for exerting control over the elevated (“privileged”) access and permissions for users, accounts, processes, and systems across an IT environment.”
While PAM is necessary, it does not address the type of data a person has access to because it is focused on the user, account, process, and system. It does not extend into the data store and clarify or tag data to understand its contents at the cellular level. It is therefore important to connect the user to the application to the data. In the ever changing landscape of cybersecurity, managing applications to control the sprawl of data sets and the significance of data type is critical.
To learn about our vArmour partnership and how we provide visibility into applications and data, read our solution brief.
