{"id":1188,"date":"2011-04-01T13:57:33","date_gmt":"2001-01-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inswwdev.azurewebsites.net\/au\/insights\/uncategorized\/encryption-knowing-what-to-protect\/"},"modified":"2023-08-07T04:57:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T04:57:08","slug":"encryption-knowing-what-to-protect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/us\/insights\/geek-speak\/modern-workplace\/encryption-knowing-what-to-protect\/","title":{"rendered":"Encryption: Knowing What to Protect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Encryption can be challenging, especially when you pick up training manuals that can be used for weight training (gym for the day: check). Microsoft\u2019s PKI training manual or the many pages of documentation you need to read about understanding GPG\/PGP can be daunting. So it\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed by not knowing how much effort it will take or where to begin and instead flipping on Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n

Insentra\u2019s security blog series is intended to help demystify encryption and show how it can be used to secure your computers, files and email \u2013 at home or on the job. This is important because all users have a responsibility to protect sensitive data from prying eyes. Whether you\u2019re a security professional in a large corporation or a homebody looking after your family\u2019s finances, protecting your data is just as important.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the first step you ask? You have to Know What to Protect!<\/h4>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s no easy way to flip and switch and ensure all your data will be protected (if there is a switch, please point us in that direction!). Encryption of data takes effort and planning. Encrypting all of your data is generally unfeasible so you need to choose which data needs to be encrypted. Firstly, think about the types of data that you have and its sensitivity. There is some data that is private and some data that you don\u2019t mind being made public. Examples of private data include financial data, personally identifiable information, pictures and intellectual property.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking at encryption for your business, try grouping your information into \u2018information assets\u2019 including financial assets, sales assets, marketing assets, proprietary assets etc and then think about where they are located. Is the data in a spreadsheet or on a laptop, file server, in the cloud or in email? Once you have considered what type of data you have and where it resides consider the risk of that data being accessed by an unauthorized user and the consequences of a data breach.<\/p>\n

Once you have analysed your data you can start to consider encryption strategies to protect it!<\/p>\n

Follow along with our encryption blogs as over the next few months we will be covering different areas surrounding:<\/p>\n