Information transformation: Your best defence against a data breach

Data is now regarded as the world’s most valuable resource.

While many have labeled it the new oil, thanks to its ability to be monetised, some are now calling data the new asbestos due to the latent dangers of possessing it.

Recent high-profile events have shown that stolen data can be used for commercial gain. This includes information that could be used for identity fraud purposes, organisational secrets, details of pending transactions, sensitive personal information and information that is relevant to critical infrastructure or national security. Unlike other resources, though, the theft of data is not always obvious.

What’s becoming clear is that we are seeing a new trend of data breaches at scale and the weaponisation of personal information against companies in possession of large databases containing personally identifiable information.

To protect against possible data breaches, organisations need to embark on classifying, organising and securing their information and data. In combination with digitising and unlocking value from data, we call this process ‘information transformation’.