Your company likely handles sensitive data that must be protected from unauthorised users. Failure to control access can lead to a catastrophic compromise of your valuable assets. Access control is a notion which aims to function as a gatekeeper. It also defines the parameters for possible technologies in the future handling sensitive materials. However, as organizations grow and change, the previous methods of handling data may not be suitable or permissible. This can result in sensitive data being made available to non-authorized users, whether from within the organization or out of the organization.
Inadequate security controls could result in the loss of data belonging to a first party, like employees and customers’ information. This could expose your organization to costly penalties from regulatory authorities, fines or lawsuits. It could also hurt your customers’ and clients trust.
The management of access is an technical and organizational process that involves both technical and organizational. To ensure that you have control over access to confidential information, a balance between policies, processes and technologies is necessary. They are crucial to ensure that your company is in compliance with standards and regulations in the industry as well as maintains its agility and keeps the trust of both clients and customers.
For instance, you should ensure that your physical security protocols are effective. This requires employees to keep documents, thumb drives and backups of personal information in locked cabinets, and also to notify the security team about strangers who enter your building. It’s also important to establish the right „need to know” for all access, which requires employees to use passwords and two-factor authentication, check their privilege lists frequently and promptly remove access rights when they are no longer needed, and then encrypt the data to safeguard it from read or tampering.
