Data protection is a critical part of any firm’s security strategy. What are some ways to measure data protection success? KPIs can be used.
So, let us discuss what these KPIs are.
Data Protection KPIs
Here are the five important KPIs for Data Protection:
Percentage of Encrypted Data
The percentage of encrypted data refers to the amount of protected or encrypted data that is stored within a company’s systems.
Encryption is a great way to ensure data protection and security. It makes data unreadable to anyone who wants to steal or snoop on it.
Encrypted data is also resistant to many viruses or malware attacks. It should be deployed across the entire company, including all of its servers, networks, and desktop computers.
It is a bit more difficult to measure encrypted data within an environment that has not been fully deployed. But, it is still possible.
Encryption can be measured by assessing the percentage of protected data that exists within the environment.
Percentage of Data Protected in Transit
It refers to the amount of protected or encrypted data that is being transmitted across the internet or through the company’s networks.
Data protection in transit is critical. This is because the data is particularly susceptible to attack when it is being transmitted between systems and devices.
The same goes for data being transmitted to and from mobile devices, especially mobile phones.
It can be measured by assessing the number of protected data transmissions that occur daily. This can be done via a security platform to monitor traffic.
Percentage of Sensitive Data Protected
Any data that is particularly sensitive to the company should be protected. Sensitive data can include things such as employee information, healthcare data, and personal financial records.
It is a good idea to implement policies that will dictate how sensitive data should be protected. This data should also be encrypted and stored within a secure location on the company’s systems.
The percentage of sensitive data can be determined by assessing the amount of protected sensitive data that exists within the environment.
It is vital to note that sensitive data may not be encrypted when it is being transmitted across networks or the internet. It is simply a best practice to protect it in transit as well.
Data Recovered From Incidents
Any time there is an incident where data is lost or stolen, it is a good idea to determine how much data was recovered from it.
For example, if there is a virus attack that results in a large amount of data being encrypted and unable to be accessed, the IT department should recover as much data as possible.
If any data is not able to be retrieved, it may be possible to determine the amount of unrecoverable data. This number can be used to determine the percentage of data that was recovered during the incident.
There are many ways that data can get lost or stolen. Any time this happens, it is a good idea to determine the amount of data that was lost or stolen, and how much was recovered.
It is a best practice to attempt to recover any lost or stolen data.
Data Retention Policy
Data retention refers to the amount of time that data should be stored within a system before it is deleted.
However, there are many factors when determining how long data should be retained. It depends on the type of data, how old it is, and how important it is to the company.
Fortunately, most companies have a general understanding of how long data should be retained within their systems. A good data retention policy is a must.