As a human, it’s difficult to part ways with certain items of value, and when you start putting too much value into things that aren’t really worth your time or effort, the amount of stuff you collect can get out of hand. While in the physical realm this happens quite often, that’s also the case in the digital realm.
Far too much information that either carries too little or too much value is stored in databases, making it difficult to manage at times from an information security standpoint. Actively managing the information stored in databases, by understanding what data is truly required for the application or moving high-value items into more secure storage utilizing MFA allows security leaders to minimize the value of their database, making it a less appealing target for attackers.
As organizations leverage new technology for efficiency sake, initial iterations may introduce information that seemed necessary at the time, but really isn’t. It’s a huge issue because that information, much later, still resides in the database, says Thomas Patterson, senior product manager at Trustwave.
“As we rapidly develop those applications, we have data that’s still sitting there and may not be needed, but it’s still there,” Patterson says. “If someone were to gain access to that information, it could be used against you.”
In the full video interview below, Patterson discusses how security leaders can minimize the value in their databases and provides a good rule of thumb to follow when it comes time to decide what should and shouldn’t be kept in the database.
Learn how you can secure your database and big data stores, both on premises and in the cloud, with help from Trustwave.
Marcos Colón is the content marketing manager at Trustwave and a former IT security reporter and editor.