Protecting Data While Fostering Collaboration: The New Imperatives for Modern Enterprises

Data Collaboration and Security: Striking a Balance in Modern Enterprises

The Double-Edged Sword of Data in Modern Enterprises

As the digital landscape evolves, data has become both a valuable asset and a potential liability for modern enterprises. On one hand, organizations need to harness the power of data to drive informed decision-making and gain a competitive edge. This necessitates a high level of data collaboration and expanded access throughout the enterprise. However, this expanded collaboration and access also increases the attack surface and exposes organizations to cybersecurity threats.

The challenge lies in finding a balance between visibility, accessibility, and data controls. Historically, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) have acted as gatekeepers, focusing on preventing the unregulated flow of data within organizations. However, their traditional approach, relying on legacy tools, falls short in meeting the modern data needs of enterprises.

The Need for Effective Data Visibility and Collaboration

In our research for the “2023 CISO Survival Guide to Emerging Trends from the Startup Ecosystem,” in collaboration with Cisco Investments, NightDragon, and Team8, we conducted interviews with practitioners and polled over 100 security leaders. The guide highlights key issues related to identity, data and collaboration, software supply chain, and cloud security.

Among the findings, data access control emerged as the second-highest priority for security hygiene spending, following data identity and privileged access management. This emphasizes the crucial role of data visibility in securing the modern enterprise.

The foundation of data security lies at the intersection of data and identity. Organizations must be able to answer two critical questions: Which groups or identities have access to specific types of data, and which groups or identities have accessed specific types of data?

Addressing these questions requires advanced tools and methodologies. Symmetry Systems, for example, has developed an executive Data Security Scorecard that enables CISOs and compliance teams to identify and rectify overprivileged access to both on-premises and cloud data stores. Such tools provide a blueprint for the future of data security, allowing organizations to gain sophisticated visibility into their crown-jewel data across hybrid environments.

Furthermore, the ability to delve into the details and ascertain who accessed what data and when can prove invaluable for compliance and post-breach investigations.

The Roadmap to Secure Data Collaboration

As organizations strive to improve data collaboration across their data stores, data security must align with risk management while enhancing usability. To achieve this, a few key concepts must be enabled:

Federated Data Access Controls

In a federated data access control model, data owners play an active role in managing access controls. This decentralization eliminates inefficiencies inherent in centralized access management and allows for more nuanced control of data access.

Fine-Grained Access Controls

Access controls need to be contextualized and fine-grained, targeting data controls at the granular level of rows, columns, and cells. By adopting this approach, organizations can ensure that data is accessed only by authorized personnel and protect against unauthorized data manipulation or exfiltration.

Data Co-Production

To facilitate seamless collaboration on data sets, organizations must enable people and systems to co-produce and collaborate on data without the need for copying and integrating across silos. This “productizing data” approach allows for joint co-production and collaboration using modern platforms, reducing data sprawl and shadow data.

While each company’s journey may require contextualized decision-making, I recommend that organizations start their data collaboration efforts at the line-of-business level. By unlocking data collaboration in smaller segments of the enterprise, organizations can gradually build momentum and create an exponential impact over time.

It is important to note that companies and security teams that adhere to legacy data security practices and are slow to adopt modern approaches will inevitably fall behind. In an era where agility, accessibility, and security are table stakes for successful enterprises, it is crucial for organizations to embrace modern data security practices to leverage the power of data and drive business growth.

Keywords: DataSecurity-wordpress, data protection, collaboration, modern enterprises