Top 5 Reasons for Organizations to Have Decentralized Data Security
Harsh Sahu
CTO
May 2024 | 7 mins
Data breach in the new age has become a common phenomenon. Every business, no matter how big or small, has been affected by cybercrimes. By 2025, cybercrime is estimated to cost $10.5 trillion globally, increasing by 15 percent year over year.
Data security, a term often tossed around by CEOs and CIOs, but does it truly resonate with the rest of the organization?
The truth is, data security isn't just a boardroom buzzword; it's a responsibility shared by everyone, from top-level executives to even the so-called 'invisible' members of an organization, like the receptionist.
Security as a mindset needs a shift. The new normal of data security is beyond C-suites.
Decentralized data security is a shift from the traditional model of centralized control to a shared responsibility distributed across various individuals and teams within an organization. It empowers everyone to play a role in protecting sensitive information.
To explain the need, let’s understand a case study that resulted in the replacement of a CISO.
In July 2019 Capital One announced an attacker had gained access to the personal information of over 100 million customers.
Capital One estimated the incident would cost them between $100 million and $150 million in 2019 alone, primarily for customer notifications, credit monitoring, and legal support.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Capital One had replaced Michael Johnson, the firm’s CISO since 2017, with the company’s CIO, Mike Eason.
Whenever data breaches occur, it results in accountability and responsibility of a single person, even though the breach could have originated from any device or been caused by any individual.
This is the main backdrop for opting decentralized data security.
The importance of data and its value is easily understood by individuals, who grasp the consequences.
But, what about those who are unaware of unsafe practices? Vulnerability in any role can trigger widespread breaches across a firm.
Imagine a single vulnerable link in a chain; one rogue click and the entire chain unravels.
In today's interconnected world, even a role that might seem unimportant can hold the key to sensitive data.
A developer using an outdated library, a marketing intern falling for a phishing scam – any unintentional mistake can trigger a domino effect, bringing the entire organization crashing down.
By empowering everyone with security awareness and best practices, you can create a stronger, more resilient chain, where every link plays its part.
Empowering every role with security best practices strengthens defenses.
The human element in security has increased its importance, and securing this aspect has become critical.
As per Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), it shows that eight in 10 data breaches involved human-related vulnerabilities.
For example, this includes employees falling for phishing attacks, other social engineering tactics, and bad guys using stolen employee credentials.
Creating a culture of security where everyone acts as a vigilant eye is a necessity now.
In a recent study, 80% of organizations said that security awareness training had reduced their staffs’ susceptibility to phishing attacks.
That reduction doesn't happen overnight, but it can happen fast — with regular training being shown to reduce risk from 60% to 10% within the first year.
In the lightning fast world of cyberattacks, every second counts.
When a data breach strikes, the organization that reacts quickest minimizes the damage. But quick reactions require awareness.
An alert developer who spots an anomaly in code, a security-savvy sales rep who flags a fishy customer request – these early warnings can make the difference between a contained incident and a full-blown catastrophe.
Decentralized data security ensures that critical information reaches the right people instantly, giving the organization a better chance in the Breach Olympics.
Early warnings can minimize damage.
Federal Trade Commission recommends the following for breach response:
Think of your organization as a bustling marketplace of ideas.
Developers dream up groundbreaking products, marketers craft clever campaigns, and even the mailroom clerk might have a brilliant suggestion for secure document handling.
Decentralized data security fosters this free flow of ideas, encouraging everyone to contribute not just to their own role, but to the overall security posture.
Suddenly, data protection isn't just a compliance chore; it becomes a collaborative challenge, sparking innovation and leading to more robust security solutions.
Ultimately, data security is about trust. Employees, customers, and partners entrust you with their valuable information, and ensuring that trust requires a unified front.
When everyone in the organization, from the CEO to the intern, understands and actively participates in data security, it sends a powerful message: we take your privacy seriously.
This builds trust, loyalty, and a stronger organizational culture where everyone feels responsible for protecting the valuable data that fuels our success.
Decentralized data security benefits span across organizations cyber health. Here are few of them:
In cases where the mean time to detect a data breach or cyberattack was quick, it not only saved capital for the organizations, but also crucial sensitive information.
For instance, it took an average of 204 days to identify a data breach, globally.
This period could cause significant impact, and decentralized data security can help organizations save crucial time by enabling faster detection and response.
When the shared responsibility of cybersecurity extends across all verticals of an organization, clients trust your brand and are more satisfied with the safety protocols in place for their sensitive data.
A firm that has real-time visibility of potential vulnerabilities from any role in the organization has higher chances of being compliant, potentially saving money.
For example, organizations with a high level of non-compliance bears an average cost of $5.05 million.
Granular access controls with permission levels based on individual needs and roles help pinpoint the areas of attack, thus reducing the attack surface area.
In 2021, more than 64 percent of financial service companies had 1,000-plus sensitive files accessible to every employee.
With stringent attribute-based access controls, data can be secured from unauthorized access and potential attacks.
Building a security conscious culture requires implementing the right mix of strategies.
Move beyond generic tips and tricks to implement these key strategies for decentralized data security:
Security awareness isn't just for C-suites.
Regular security awareness training, including periodic refresher sessions, can significantly reduce the burden on security teams by empowering employees to identify and report suspicious activity.
Establish a dedicated channel for reporting suspicious activity.
This allows for prompt investigation and identification of potential vulnerabilities within your data ecosystem.
Implement clear data governance policies tailored to specific business use cases. (read more about Data Security vs Data Governance)
These policies help reduce the need for constant monitoring by security professionals, as potential issues are already addressed through established guidelines.
If a policy is breached, the cyber team should be notified instantly.
Invest in modern security tools equipped to detect and mitigate a wide range of attacks in a decentralized setting.
These tools should be able to analyze data across various files and systems to identify and protect against emerging data security threats.
Our platform, OptIQ, has the following value additions for your data security:
Every role plays a crucial part in protecting sensitive information. However, the definition of "sensitive" varies across industries.
Financial sectors deal heavily with PCI data, while healthcare sectors manage PHI data.
Other industries have their own types of sensitive information, including business secrets, linked PII, financial metrics, intellectual properties and sentimentally sensitive data.
Traditional classification tools often fail to capture these emerging types of sensitive information.
Decentralization, at its core, means that every member of an organization understands what data is essential and what is not.
The OptIQ data security tool, built on AI and ML algorithms, detects and classifies business information based on its specific use cases.
To truly achieve and support decentralized data security, organizations need to move beyond simple classification tools and understand the context of the data.
Let’s connect and understand how our data security platform will elevate your decentralized approach to data security.
While security knowledge is becoming more widespread, there's more to it than meets the eye. Proper training and modern data security tools help everyone understand vulnerabilities and mitigate them significantly easier.
The alert and notification include incident forensics, which expedite the resolution process.
The OptIQ tool offers real-time alerts and notifications. If any mistakes are made or protocols are ignored, it will instantly notify the admin.
