Data is crucial to the foundation of most businesses in today’s technology-driven, cloud-first era. Data at rest is a term for a certain type of data that contains some of the most vital and sensitive information. It’s usually stashed in several systems, and only gets accessed on rare occasions.
When people talk about “data at rest,” what exactly do they mean?
A database, data warehouse, data lake, or any other common component of a storage system all qualify as examples of “data at rest,” which is defined as information that is not actively being used or updated. This makes it the polar opposite of data in transit, which refers to information that is now being transferred from one location to another, whether it be through a private network, the public internet, from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, across clouds, etc.
The value of ensuring the silence of dormant data
Malicious hackers will target data regardless of its location, as anyone who works in data security or even just follows the subject attentively will attest. From 1,108 breaches discovered in all of 2020, this is an increase of 17%. For the past three years running, the United States has had at least a thousand data breaches annually. There is no sign of this worrying statistical trend slowing down, let alone ending.
For the most part, hackers will aim for data that isn’t being actively used since they see it as easier pickings. While there are many potential entry points for snooping, corporations typically use secure socket layer connections when transferring sensitive information (SSL).
Technologies crucial to the safety of stored information
Codes for protecting information
When it comes to protecting information during storage, encryption is, without a doubt, one of the most effective methods available. Files that will be stored can be encrypted before they are stored, or the entire storage disc or device can be encrypted. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are just a few of the leading cloud providers; each of them offers some level of automated encryption. Cloud-based deployment of machine learning models and their related encrypted data is also achievable thanks to a variety of state-of-the-art encryption methods.
Cloud-based firewalls, also known as firewall as a service solutions, can apply all the security benefits of the latest generation of firewalls to data residing in your company’s cloud. Key capabilities include comprehensive URL filtering, intrusion prevention, DNS security, and packet-level analysis tools. A FWaaS is purpose-built to handle SSL-encrypted traffic from the start, unlike traditional Next-Generation Firewalls. If you need to relocate some of your stored data, the firewall’s SSL compatibility will assist keep it safe in transit. It’s worth noting that FWaaS products are well-suited for usage in hybrid cloud architectures because they protect data in both the cloud and on-premises.
Preventing the Loss of Data
Standard anti-malware software and firewalls aren’t always enough to prevent security threats like phishing attacks and staff sabotage. This is when measures to safeguard against information loss become relevant. Data theft can be avoided with the use of access control technology by preventing unauthorised users from transferring data to their own personal email accounts or connecting unauthorised external hard drives to company networks. One alternative is to block access to users’ private email accounts.
