The Importance of Data Encryption for Businesses

Author's Note: This post is the beginning of some new ways we want to present some informational content. If you landed here due to a crazy social media post, welcome! Our staff loves technology and enjoys trying to make it relatable. Our blog posts will occur less often than some, but from this point forward, it is our intent to make it fun, educational, and most importantly, real. We'll lean on some AI tooling to assist with authorship efficiency, but know there is a group of technology passionate humans that are putting this all out there.

Why Is Data Encryption Important for my Business?

In today's fast-paced digital landscape.... Bleh, is there an opening that screams more "AI" than this?

So here's the real deal - your data can take the form of many things, like your spreadsheets, your emails, and more. Some of these things may not be that sensitive, like emailing a Happy Birthday message to your Aunt June, but some things may cause BIG problems if they fall into the wrong hands. Encryption's purpose is to keep that data in an unreadable format until it is needed. 

If your business relies upon client trust or compliance with regulatory requirements, then data encryption will play a pivotal role in keeping all that sensitive information safe. 

What could possibly go Wrong if I don't encrypt?

Think for a moment about all the data that runs through your business. All the emails, the messages, the documents, secrets, and other special sauce that you have to deliver your amazing product or services to your customers. It can be hard to wrap your head around, especially when your business grows to a large size. But it is nearly a guarantee that this sensitive information exists somewhere in your organization. 

Now, consider what someone with bad intent could do if they had all that information. It could make for some very bad days, potentially destroying so much of the trust your clients have in giving their information to you or the business you've worked so hard to build. If your business is bound to regulations such as HIPAA, CIS, PCI DSS or GDPR, then you may have other legal or financial liabilities that may arise for not complying with their rules. 

Encrypting at Rest

If you don't encrypt your data while you are storing it on your devices, then anyone with physical access to your device can gain access to that data in a pretty straightforward manner. Your 10-mile long password won't matter at all when the hard drive can be pulled out and read by the hacker directly. This same idea holds true when your device has reached end of life and you choose to not use it any longer. Keeping this data encrypted while at rest will make sure it is unreadable when accessed directly. 

Most modern devices have technologies such as BitLocker & FileVault to encrypt your data while it waits to be used. Part of what we do is to help ensure that these technologies are used and configured properly in your IT environment. Our tools will not only detect if encryption is disabled but transparently enable it with little (if any) interruption to your work. We also securely back up & regularly change the encryption keys to keep them safe.

Encrypting in Transit

Making sure data on the move is encrypted is a little less straightforward than the above and needs some deeper consideration. All angles of how that data moves need to be considered and an encryption strategy put in place for each.  Technologies like S/MIME, SSL, TLS, VPN, and more all will need to be used to encrypt that data traffic as it moves through the different ways it can be shared. 

We help businesses like yours in identifying all these data pathways and ensuring that the best available encryption is applied. This protects that data from interception and eavesdropping. 

How do I check if I'm Encrypted?

What to check for yourself if your machine has "Encryption at Rest" enabled? 

If you're a Windows user, open your Start Menu and search for Manage BitLocker. BitLocker's status for each drive will be listed.

If you're a Mac user, open the Apple Menu and navigate to System Settings then Privacy & Security. Select FileVault. FileVault's status will be shown.

Enhancing Business Security Through Robust Encryption Practices

I can't recall who said it, but it was quoted somewhere that "Security is a process, not a project". To maximize the benefits of data encryption, businesses such as yours need to adopt robust encryption policies. Training, education, and ongoing recommendations are how we assist our clients to better protect themselves and be the data stewards that their customers already believe they are.

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Thanks for visiting, and please let us know if we can assist you with your data encryption. 

Sincerely, DK