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    Straight A’s for Determining Risk and Avoiding the Big F

    Have you ever joined a conversation and taken what is said completely out of context because you simply didn’t have the background information? It’s an easy mistake to make and can be both frustrating and humorous at times.

    Adding context to a data security situation is just as important as it’s essential to ensure that you can connect the dots and fully understand if something is at risk. When it comes to the loss or mishandling of unstructured data, all it takes is one strike and you’re out. Here are five ways for determining risk and protecting against threats, identified by Dell Software.

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    Click through for five ways to help determine risk and protect against threats, as identified by Dell Software.

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    Authentication is about ensuring that the person logging into a system is who they say they are. Depending on the role and level of access for an individual user, companies should require that employees provide more than one form of authentication. A good example is a security token that constantly generates a new random PIN. Adding a second form of authentication makes it harder to infiltrate a system.

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    Once authenticated, authorization is the parameters placed around what a user is allowed to do. In other words, a user is permitted a certain level of access to certain applications and assets based on one’s login credentials. For example, a user in the role of finance accounts payable will have authorization and access to certain financial applications or files.

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    Administration is the managerial tasks that enable someone to authenticate and be correctly authorized. This involves setting up someone’s credentials in the system so that the individual’s information can be authenticated upon login. The objective of administration is to implement processes that enable individuals to efficiently and securely complete tasks.

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    Auditing verifies that the other three pieces are working as designed. Business managers need to recertify that the list of people with access to the data and applications is still accurate – with employee departures and changing roles, this is an ongoing role.

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    Security simply needs to be maintained whether organizations have sufficient staffing, budget or tools in place or not. The next time you have to change your password or can’t access an application without having to submit a formal request, don’t be upset. Restricted access is necessary to protect your company’s data. Be thankful that your company is taking security seriously; the actions taken might very well save your organization from being the next security breach headline.

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