Data Storage Security Best Practices

Description

Data storage security best practices, simply put, means storing data securely. It is, however, not so simple when it comes to actually protecting data and managing the resources which are stored.

Worldwide, as financial institutions move towards automation and innovative cloud-based services to improve customer experience, they are increasingly becoming susceptible to new vulnerabilities. Consumers are now able to access a host of services at the touch of a finger – from bill payments to investing in stocks to applying for loans. This has led to the need for efficient and secure network storage.

It is estimated that 80%-90% of data received by financial organisations is unstructured data coming from customer interactions through call centers, social media, emails, and more. Although the banking and financial services industry’s expenditure on IT and data security is more than any other industry, 57% of consumers still believe that their data is not secure. Unfortunately, the financial sector suffered the second-highest number of data breaches in 2019. Loss of data can happen from any number of reasons – accidental or deliberate damage to the computer/server hard disks, external hard/USB drives, and unauthorised use/misuse.

Banking and financial organisations work closely with highly sensitive personally identifiable information and financial records and are often at the receiving end of cyber-crimes like identity theft and fraud. The Privacy Act 1988 was introduced to promote and protect the privacy of individuals and to regulate how Australian Government Agencies and organisations handle personal information.

In a recent survey conducted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), it was found that 59% of Australians had a problem with how their data was used. 81% consider it a misuse for an organisation to ask for information that doesn’t seem relevant to the purpose of the transaction, 84% consider privacy extremely or very important when choosing a digital service, 82% believe children must be empowered to use online services (but their data privacy must be protected), 85% have a clear understanding of why they should protect their personal information, but 49% say they don’t know how.

This course draws inference from The Privacy Act 1988 and outlines data storage security best practices that businesses can adopt and follow so that they are in compliance with privacy regulations and guidelines. The course will familiarise learners with the privacy legislations and principles, ways to protect consumers’ personal information and secure disposal of the same, cybersecurity guidelines and key requisites of a sustainable data storage security plan, amongst other topics.

Estimated Time To Complete

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, learners will be able to