When it comes to customer data, you are not just protecting bits and bytes. You are protecting the people that data represents. A breach of data is a breach of trust—which can cause long-lasting damage that goes beyond the cost of remediation.

At Zendata, we believe that data privacy is a fundamental human right. It is our mission to protect the human stories that data represents. With cyberattacks growing at a record pace, crafting resilient security policies can help preserve this right and keep your customers’ data safe. With the right plan, powered by solutions like Zendata's cloud-based data protection and privacy compliance platform, you can navigate the complex data landscape confidently without fear of breaches, fines, or lost trust.

What is Data Security—Examples

Think about security policies in the way you would protect valuable items in your home. A resilient data security policy is like having a security system with a set of guidelines to keep your jewelry, electronics, and important documents safe.

Just as you lock your doors and keep your keys secure, a data security policy includes encryption and access control to prevent unauthorized intruders from accessing your sensitive data. Surveillance cameras can keep an eye on your property. Monitoring and auditing systems can log activities and report suspicious behavior. Alarms can alert you to break-ins, at home and in the digital world.

Your data security policy should also include guest access. Who do you invite into your home, and where can they go when they enter? If they do manage to get into a room where they were not invited, are there protections like locked cabinets or safes to stop them from taking your important items?

Similarly, you check that the doors are locked before going to bed for the night. Regular security audits are constantly on guard to ensure your data is safely locked away from cybercriminals.

Key Components of a Data Security Policy

There are many data privacy and security standards, including ISO 27001, ISO 27002, NIST Special Publication 800-53, the GDPR, and the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). At the heart of each of these are nine components:

1. Scope: Encompasses the protection of sensitive data and dictates its management, applicable to all personnel engaged in data-handling activities within the organization.
2. Responsibility: Detailing oversight, enhancement, and maintenance falls under the purview of the designated data security manager, ensuring effective implementation and continuous improvement.
3. Objectives: Defining goals for protecting confidential information, mitigating risks of data breaches, and upholding your organization's commitment to data privacy and security.
4. Strategy and Focus: Implementing robust security measures aligned with established IT security frameworks and standards to achieve the objectives laid out in the policy.
5. Policy: Codified procedures and processes for secure data handling, consequences for policy violations, and a systematic approach for policy updates to stay on top of evolving security needs.
6. Additional Policies: Adding complementary policies, including those for data classification, end-user computing, access management, and acceptable use, may further augment and support the overarching data security policy.
7. Applicability of Other Policies: Explaining how interconnected policies influence and complement one another, fostering a comprehensive and cohesive approach to data security.
8. Enforcement: Designating the individuals or departments responsible for enforcing policy provisions, ensuring accountability and adherence throughout the organization.
9. Management and Audit Review: Scheduling policy reviews and updates, emphasizing the importance of periodic assessments to adapt to emerging threats and maintain the efficacy of the data security framework.

Building Your Data Security Policy

When you are building your data security policy, you want to create a comprehensive document, including both internal documents and consumer-facing information. Customers put their trust in you to handle the data. You need to create policies that are deserving of that trust. 

Data security policies must also include an incident response plan. In case of a data breach, everyone needs to know what to do and what steps are required, including governmental or consumer notifications.

One of the keys to keeping your data private and compliant is being proactive. That is why we created Zendata. Your public-facing web applications and codebases are under constant security risk. Zendata provides an easy-to-understand security and privacy assessment with proven recommendations for mitigating issues, as well as consulting to help you protect your data more efficiently.

Connect with the data privacy and compliance experts at Zendata today to request a complimentary assessment.