Big Data – What is It and How Can I Secure It?

The amount of time people surf, stream and share online on a day-to-day basis is immense. Multiply that by the number of people using their computers and the web and you’ll be left with a number that is near-inconceivable. Now imagine how much data billions of computer users will develop and exchange at any given time around the world. The number is enormous. Take the amount of emails sent day to day for example. According to the Email Statistics Report, 2018-2022, published by technology market research firm Radicati Group, in 2018, the total number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day will exceed 281 billion. That’s a whole lot of data.

So, What is Big Data?

Big data is the term used to describe information that is too vast and intricate for any usual data management tools to store and analyze. Let’s say you operate a company of 100 employees and collect information from a database of 150,000 clients. You’ll have an influx of user info like past purchases and addresses, business emails, past and current project files, and more floating around a variety of storage facilities. If your data capacity grows so large you no longer have room to store and manage it all, you’ve got big data. Though it seems beneficial to collect plenty of customer information, too much data for your programs to manage and analyze won't allow you to harness it. The first problem you’ll need to overcome handling big data is how to keep all this information secure. With stringent regulations in place on data privacy like the GDPR, it is necessary to secure all your sensitive information, even if there's a lot of it. Here are some tips:

Store Your Data Appropriately

Your security measures and storage need to be able to safeguard an ever-growing volume of data. Opt for scale-out network attached storage as opposed to scaling up for extra storage. Cloud-based storage will be able to handle the enormous amounts of data collected at a faster rate than a storage system that constantly needs to be expanded as volume increases. Plus, a scale-out solution will likely be more cost-effective in the long run.

Restrict and Review User Access

Your IT head should converse with corporate stakeholders who can access data and review permissions for all authorized employees. When staff leave your organization, they should be immediately removed from your access lists to avoid hacks.

Encrypt Everything

When your data is being stored in a single place that all permitted employees can access, you will be able to encrypt these data. Encryption gives everyone the ability to access data they need safely. Think of encryption like a wrap around the data that only certain employees, decided by owners and IT heads, will have access to. If you need help storing and securing your big data, StorageCraft are the storage and online data recovery experts! We offer a scale-out solution called OneBlox – it’s affordable, easy to use, and designed to effortlessly connect to your current systems. Contact us today to learn more or request a quote.