We have truly transformed into the digital world, which, as you know, has numerous opportunities and threats for companies. Also, it’s not just companies that have to worry about data security, but now individuals do too. Almost everyone has a laptop or cell phone in which they store their valuable information. However, relying so heavily on digital forms of data, especially unstructured data, does have the potential to be exploited.

Additionally, we have become reliant on concepts like security in depth for a large part of our data security strategy, and we haven’t put much emphasis on enabling the data to protect itself.

So, imagine if your data fell into the wrong hands. Whether its intellectual property, data that exposes your customers to fraud risks, merger and acquisition information, or classified information, the consequences of that breach can do serious harm to your organization. Even if that data is encrypted, you’re still reliant on proper key management or left hoping the adversary can’t brute force their way through the encryption. You might be wondering then; how does one prevent information from getting into the wrong hands? The answer is simple: self-protecting data.

Data Protecting Itself- Could It Be?

After experiencing numerous attacks and breaches, organizations identified one of the biggest problems: they are relying on peripheral systems and layers of security to protect the data rather than investing in approaches that enable the data to protect itself.

So over the course of the past few decades we’ve built this behemoth of infrastructure and systems (i.e. security in depth) because of (mainly) technological and networking considerations, but that’s no longer a hurdle in the vast majority of applications, and we’re now entering a new data-centric security paradigm where data that’s aware and able to react to threats is not just feasible but being commercialized. Sertainty being the first and only.

Pro Tip: want to geek out with us about this concept? Schedule a demo and we’ll show you how data can protect itself.

In the old world, the safety of data is entirely dependent on human behavior and infrastructure. In today’s new reality, your enterprise can use Sertainty to protect data directly.

But let’s take a quick sidebar to define the term “self-protecting data”.

Definition of Self-Protecting Data:

“files or folders that can understand who should have access to them and instantly allow full, partial, or no access to the user based on the situation in which access is being attempted, and without the need to check privilege level from a centralized user database.”

This means in part that portions of the file, word document, PowerPoint, etc. can be accessed while others cannot, depending on who is opening the file. Perhaps the entire file can be accessed, or nothing can be accessed. This selective decryption or sometimes called selective access capability even extends as far as to allow multiple users to work on a file at the same time, with the others only being aware of edits to the parts they have access to. In other use-cases (check out our blog for details on other use-cases) the files can even destroy themselves if they find themselves in particular situations.

Security in Depth:

There are quite a few tools out there that should not be done away with once you implement self-protecting data. Rather than ultimately putting those tools on the back burner, you should be combining self-protecting data with tools such as firewalls, vulnerability detection and management, SIEM and log analytics, etc. So, a key takeaway is that network security and vulnerability scanning tools still play a vital role, but your overall defense strategy is enhanced with self-protecting data.

Pro Tip: Your specific situation needs to be considered. Again, contact us for a demo and we’ll be happy to talk about your specific use-case and how we’d suggest you use the technology.

The advantages of self-protecting data

If the executives in your organizations are on the fence about investing in another solution, here are a few benefits of self-protecting data you can share.

Seamless and Reliable

Let’s be honest, the only time executives or the business team really wants to hear about security is when auditors show up or something bad happens. Much of our work in the information security space is about preventing bad things from happening and reporting, generally, is about when things go bad. That said, it’s reassuring for the senior leadership team to at least know that their intellectual property and sensitive information are able to protect themselves should there be a breach.

With self-protecting data, it’s simple, there are no extra line items or management requirements. All your files and folders react to user interactions and adjust access automatically based on the situation they find themselves in and without the need for a centralized database.

It’s Flexible

Almost every organization today utilizes cloud-based or hybrid cloud models. There is no reason to acquire expensive pools of storage or add servers to the DMZ that require management, maintenance, upgrades, and expansions every time there is a change in your business.  The self-protecting data tool such as the Sertainty SPD Utility (SPD-U) gives you the performance, low inactivity and availability that your users require with all of the benefits that you anticipate from the cloud.

Available as a Service

Executives rely on their IT department to resolve daily issues and ensure the business operates smoothly. Anything that takes away from that is looked down upon by executives. With self-protecting data like the Sertainty SPD Utility (SPD-U), the IT department can focus on what matters most while this self-protecting data is a fully managed service. At the end of the day, the most significant benefit is that your data is protecting itself at all times with no extra effort from the IT department.

Available to Several Industries

The use-cases and applications for this tech are very far reaching. Self-protecting data ensures that your material does not get into the wrong hands. Whether you are a musician and want to prevent your work from getting out too early, or you are in the medical or pharma industry and need to protect data while sharing it with third parties, or you’re protecting government secrets.

There are tons of use-cases, and whatever the situation, self-protecting data could very likely fit a key role in your overall security strategy.

The Sertainty Solution- SPD Utility

The Sertainty solution transforms data from a liability to an asset. If you’re ready to discover how the Sertainty Self-Protecting-Data Utility can benefit your business, schedule a demo today!