In the context of data security, modern digital businesses realize the dangers that come with using sensitive information in its raw form. Figuring out a way to collect and use the original data without putting it at risk remains a challenge, and organizations must channel a lot of their resources into IT security that protects their users’ sensitive data.
With so
many highly-publicized data breaches hitting newspaper headlines in recent
years, including a massive Capital One
data breach in 2019, it has become more important than ever to protect
sensitive consumer data and limit its exposure to data leaks.
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Thankfully, a number of
innovative technologies have made it
easier to reduce data security risk - as well as meet the requirements of
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard ( DSS) compliance.
From encryption and tokenization to next-generation
methods like aliasing, businesses in
the digital age have a number of options when it comes to protecting and safely
using sensitive user information.
Encryption and tokenization
are two of the most popular of these methods.
While they
both serve valuable functions in countless modern organizations, they both have
their own unique drawbacks - and many businesses may not even realize what new
and innovative options are currently available to them.
Sensitive Information
and the Growing Threat of Data Breaches
The
hard-to-face reality is that billions of personal records are exposed each
year.
Just in
the first half of 2019, for example, there have been over 3,800 publicly
disclosed data leakage events in which an astonishing 4.1 billion records were
compromised, according to the 2019 MidYear QuickView Data Breach Report.
As we continue to discover the trends of data
breaches, it becomes clear that large-scale data leaks make up the lion’s share
of overall cybersecurity breaches. The same report cites that 3.2 billion of
the 4.1 billion leaked records were exposed from just eight data leakage events.
Massive data leaks are fast becoming a frequent
occurrence – with headlines regularly popping up highlighting cybersecurity
disasters at popular corporations that have impacted millions of people.
In the summer of 2019, news of a cybersecurity
disaster rattled North American consumers. The highly-publicized Capital One
data breach of 2019 led to the sensitive data exposure of 100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians – including hundreds
of thousands of Social Security numbers and bank account numbers.
Similarly, in July of 2019, we learned about a
whopping $700 million settlement that resulted from the Equifax data breach.
Now, years after the incident, the 147
million customers impacted by that disaster all get a piece of that pie.
It only seems like a matter of time until the
next multi-million-dollar data breach settlement will be announced, and another
consumer data-handling organization will have their feet publicly held to the
fire.
Thankfully,
a number of innovative data security approaches have made it easier to safely
collect and store sensitive data - greatly reducing the risk of data breaches.
Figuring Out How to
Protect Sensitive Data
Even
if an organization does not vault credit card payments or other forms of
sensitive data, any modern business must invest sufficiently in their
cybersecurity protections.
But for
companies that collect, store or transfer sensitive information such as
cardholder data like Primary Account Numbers (PANs) or other types of
Personally Identifiable Information (PII), from account passwords to Social
Security numbers - the importance of airtight data security systems is
substantially higher.
Apart from making customers feel safe using their
products, businesses also have to meet various regulatory requirements to prove
that they’re compliant with one or more legal frameworks like SOC 2, HIPAA and
PCI.
Given the disastrous effects that a cybersecurity
mishap can have on a company of any size, combined with the various compliance
frameworks they must abide by, modern businesses are investing substantially in
data security programs.
From building their own IT security teams to
hiring a third-party cybersecurity vendor, companies need to make sure they’re
safeguarding their users’ sensitive data.
And, these days, when we talk about how
businesses protect sensitive data, we’re usually mentioning either tokenization
or encryption. Nearly every digital organization already relies on tokenization
and/or encryption, to some degree, as part of their IT security policies.
But which
is best, and how are they different?
Tokenization vs.
Encryption: What’s the Difference?
Encryption
vs. tokenization - what is the difference, and which is superior.
The truth of the matter is that both of these
data protection techniques offer unique strengths for particular use cases, and
both are incredibly valuable for various types of businesses.
Encryption locks sensitive data behind a complex
mathematical algorithm, and this encrypted form is only “unlockable” using a
specific encryption key. Once the encryption is “solved” at the end point, the
sensitive data is revealed in its true format.
Tokenization, on the other hand, is a way to limit storing
plain text sensitive data by using “tokens” to replace the original data.
Unlike with encryption, these tokens
are not reversible and cannot be solved. These nonsensitive tokens must be
revealed using the correct tokenization solution - making tokenization more
appropriate than encryption for structured data, like credit card numbers.
However, with both tokenization and encryption, the original sensitive data still
resides on a business’ servers to varying degrees. With tokenization, for
example, there are two points where the raw sensitive data is at risk: the data vault and the original point of
capture.
This
means that there are still system components where the original sensitive data
is flowing - making these systems still within the scope of PCI DSS
requirements.
But what if businesses could still use sensitive
data exactly as they are now, but not possess it at any point?
By removing the sensitive data from a company’s
systems entirely, those networks would be out of PCI DSS compliance scope.
This is
where data aliases come into the
picture.
Descoping Entirely with
Data Aliasing by VGS
While
helpful with data security, both encryption and tokenization maintain original
sensitive data in a business’ possession. With aliasing, it’s possible to collect, store and transfer this same data
just as if it was in its raw state, but without ever possessing it in the first
place.
By
working with a third-party data security partner that provides data aliasing,
you can benefit from sensitive data while keeping your systems completely clean
- removing those systems from PCI DSS compliance scope entirely.
As a trusted data custodian, VGS handles 100% of
data capture and vaulting for businesses that leverage their data security
solutions. By using VGS’ Zero Data
approach, companies remove their systems
from PCI DSS
compliance scope entirely – removing any
compliance risk and completely mitigating the risks of data leaks.
VGS takes care of all collection, storage and
transfer of sensitive data on your business’ behalf using its innovative Zero Data aliasing method, so your
systems are descoped from compliance requirements entirely.
Moreover, when businesses implement VGS solutions
to handle their sensitive data, they instantly inherit VGS’ best-in-class
security posture, which enables them to
fast-track their certifications like PCI, SOC2 and others.
With data
security as one less thing to worry about, organizations are empowered to focus
their time and resources on what truly matters: continuing to grow their core
businesses.
This
article was originally published in Very GoodSecurity.
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