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Organizations underestimate the value of encryption

As corporate IT ecosystems become increasingly vast warehouses of sensitive data, expectations regarding the safeguards used to protect that information are also rising. New solutions are still emerging in the effort to better mitigate data breach risk, but many companies could dramatically improve computer security by incorporating a more traditional strategy: encryption.

Business decision makers understand the need to protect stored data, but as Kevin Percy, U.K. business development director at security software provider DESlock, recently noted for Channel Web, myths regarding encryption technology present significant barriers to adoption. For example, Percy said there is a prevalent misconception that using encryption solutions limits employee access to important data. However, the software causes little disruption to day-to-day activities once activated, particularly with the proliferation of robust encryption key management systems.

"Organizations often believe they don't really need encryption because employees don't have access to certain parts of the network," Percy wrote. "Confidential or highly sensitive information of any nature should always be encrypted, as you have no idea from where a threat may come."

Just as protecting stored data has become a critical action item for many businesses, solutions such as SSL certificates must be implemented to protect sensitive, in-transit information. Deploying effective solutions is only part of the battle, however, as information security best practices dictate that companies must also evaluate their data protection implementations on a regular basis. InformationWeek's Michelle McNickle highlighted a breach in the healthcare sector, extracting two primary lessons from the incident. The first is that healthcare organizations must take better stock of their data and whether it is protected. The second is that frequent evaluation in the form of risk analysis is a necessary step toward compliance and in mitigating the risk of a data leak.

Begin implementing best practice solutions by getting your SSL certificate today.

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