We already know that one of the main assets of a company is the information available to it. In many cases, the bulk of that information is made up of personal data, which makes it especially sensitive. That is why the protection and action against threats and the promotion of security are essential to guarantee the trust and proper development of a business.
What is Personal Data?
Let’s focus on the concept of personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) defines it as “all information about an identified person”. According to these regulations, the identification of a person for the purpose of data protection is done when their identity can be determined directly or indirectly through:
- Identifiers such as name, identification number, location data or an online identifier.
- Own elements of physical, physiological, psychic, economic, cultural or social identity.
What happens when problems arise?
The GDPR defines the breaches of personal data as all those security breaches that cause the destruction, loss or accidental or unlawful alteration of personal data transmitted, preserved or otherwise treated, or unauthorized communication or access to such data. It also includes the loss or theft of devices that store information carelessly without thinking about the stored content.
Without a doubt, in the digital era in which we live, cybersecurity and data protection go hand in hand. And that implies having two key concepts clear: the identification and authentication of data.
Some people may confuse them since both terms are almost same in the field of computer security. The two are in the first line of defense of most computerized systems and have the objective of preventing the entry of unauthorized persons. These two control mechanisms are the basis of most of the access controls and the monitoring of user activities.
Definitions and Typology
The personal data identification is the ability to uniquely identify a user of a system or application that is running on the system.
The authentication is the ability to demonstrate that a user is really who that person claims to be.
Let’s give an example. When we connect to a system, we indicate our username and password. How does the system authorize us? Use our ID to identify us. How does it authenticate us? Check that the password we have provided is correct.
There are three types of authentication:
- Systems that rely on something known. Perhaps the best-known example is the password for entering our email.
- Systems that rely on membership. This is the case of our ID or a card.
- Systems that rely on a physical characteristic. We are talking about fingerprint, voice verification or eye patterns.
Conclusion
In short, data protection deserves an essential focus of attention from both the user’s and the company’s point of view. It is essential that our accesses be as robust as possible and that companies can shield them thus complying with the GDPR.
Moreover, to keep your personal data secure, we recommend you to use a virtual private network and VPNshazam is the best VPN providing servichttps://www.vpnshazam.com/2019/10/08/how-to-protect-your-mobile-devices-from-cyberattacks/e that aims to protect your data all the time.
