Every day, reams of data are collated, stored, and exchanged between entities around the world. Some of it is perfectly mundane. But much of the data floating through cyberspace is sensitive in nature, and sensitive data demands special care. It must be managed attentively and with great caution, especially in this age of ever-present and increasingly dangerous cyber-attacks, which can cause costly data losses.
To understand the impact of sensitive data losses, it is paramount to first fully understand what sensitive data actually is. This guide explores what is sensitive data. It explains what is classed as sensitive data (and what is not), with illustrative examples and helpful guidance for entities that work with sensitive data daily.
Jump to Key Sections
1. Definitions and Examples of Sensitive Data
2. Risks of Sensitive Data Management
3. Essential Security Controls for Sensitive Data
4. Moving Beyond the Old: Why Traditional Tools Fall Short
5. Secure Collaboration Platforms for Sensitive Data
Definitions and Examples of Sensitive Data
First, what is sensitive data? Here is a simple, clear definition.
Defining Sensitive Data
The term “sensitive data” applies to any information that demands special protection, because it could cause harm, legal or ethical issues, or other problems, if it were leaked into the public domain or fell into the hands of unauthorised users. In short, it is data that has to be kept safe and under wraps for the well-being and safety of those involved in its collection and storage.
Sensitive Data vs. Personal Data
Terms like “sensitive personal data” or “personal sensitive data” often cause confusion. Their usage may lead people to believe that sensitive data and personal data are the same, yet they are not. There can be some overlap between them – some personal data can be sensitive – but the two terms are wholly distinct:
- Sensitive data is data that requires special protection due to the potential harm of its exposure.
- Personal data is information that can be used to identify a specific individual, which might also include sensitive data, as well as less or non-sensitive elements. A person’s gender, for example, is not a particularly sensitive element of data, but their credit card number would be an example of sensitive data.
Key Examples of Sensitive Data
The easiest way to understand what is and what is not classed as sensitive data is by looking at examples. We find examples in many industries, but especially in those that are either:
- Obliged to comply with strict data regulations, like GDPR and HIPAA.
- At “high risk” of cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Healthcare and financial organisations meet both of these criteria, as do governmental agencies. All of these entities routinely collect and exchange sensitive data, and have to do their best to protect it. The table below shows some of the types of data they typically work with. Note, however, that this is far from an exhaustive list, and numerous more forms of sensitive data exist.
| Type of Sensitive Data | Specific Examples |
| Customer Information |
|
| Employee Data |
|
| Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets |
|
| Operational and Inventory Data |
|
| Industry-Specific Data |
|
| Access Credentials |
|
| Government Information |
|
Risks of Sensitive Data Management
Sensitive data has to be handled with the utmost care. If it falls into the wrong hands, negative consequences will invariably ensue. Unfortunately, while many entities take relevant steps to safeguard their data and manage it more securely, their systems often have inherent weaknesses, gaps, or oversights.
For example, the vast majority of modern businesses – 94%, to be precise – use cloud systems. However, many misconfigure their systems or fail to employ appropriate cloud security measures, such as strict access control, which can allow unauthorised users to gain access to sensitive data.
What’s more, threats do not always come from outside the organisation. Simple user errors – often a result of a lack of training or weak cybersecurity standards – can lead to losses from within, as can the use of outdated legacy tools and systems, like unsecured email, which lack the necessary modern protections for safe storage and exchange of sensitive data.
These risks are particularly prevalent in businesses and industries that rely on collaboration and exchange. Many businesses may need to send and receive sensitive data to and from supply chain partners and third-party stakeholders, for example, and insecure exchange methods can easily lead to data getting lost or stolen.
If and when that happens, the risks can be fatal for the organisations involved:
Legal Fines
Non-compliance with data regulations like GDPR can lead to hefty fines, often reaching millions of pounds, depending on the size of the business. Every year, hundreds of businesses face such penalties.
Operational Disruption
Data breaches force companies to prioritise resolution, often halting other operations. This can lead to significant delays while the breach is managed and legal consequences are addressed.
Reputational Damage
A data breach tarnishes a brand’s reputation. Trust is eroded, and customers and partners may reconsider their relationships with a company that fails to protect sensitive information.
Customer Loss
Following a breach, 66% of customers lose trust in the business, with 75% of them choosing to cut ties permanently. This reflects the high importance the public places on data security.
Essential Security Controls for Sensitive Data
Once you fully understand what sensitive personal data is, the next question is, how do you protect it? Various security systems, software, and controls exist to aid in the safe management of sensitive data. Such controls are essential in industries that handle large amounts of this data and must comply with strict regulations, such as GDPR.
Examples include:
- Access Controls and Least Privilege
Entities must exert strict control over which users can access sensitive data and what level of control they have. There may be situations, for example, where you want to allow third-party stakeholders to view sensitive data, but not to save, modify, or share it. Other users at high levels may be granted greater controls, but this needs constant refinement and monitoring to avoid unauthorised access.
- Data Encryption
All data must be encrypted – scrambled into code that is impossible for any prying eyes to read and understand without the relevant decryption key – to help prevent data from being accessed via malicious and surreptitious means. Data encryption must also take place when data is both at rest (in storage) and in transit (travelling from one device/network to another).
- Employee Training
Employees who are liable to encounter sensitive data or have to handle it as part of their day-to-day duties must be thoroughly instructed on how to do so safely. Hospital staff, for example, should be trained on how to access and update patient records without putting any sensitive medical data at risk of being lost or intercepted, as well as how to avoid data theft techniques like phishing attacks. To assist with compliance, a specialised healthcare mobile design agency can develop secure, intuitive interfaces that reduce human error and keep data protected on the go.
- Audits and Monitoring
Sensitive data management is an ongoing process, demanding constant attention, refinement, and care. Companies cannot simply deploy a data control system and expect it to function flawlessly right away and for years to come. They have to carry out audits to ensure their data remains safe over time and in changing conditions, and monitor various systems to mitigate data loss risks.
- Regulatory Compliance
Entities also need to abide by all necessary regulations regarding data control, which will vary based on where the company does business – those operating in Europe, for example, have to follow GDPR rules – and what industry it operates in – health care entities have their own specific rules, for instance. Many entities, regardless of industry, need to meet international regulations, like ISO 27001 certification.
Moving Beyond the Old: Why Traditional Tools Fall Short
Many traditional tools lack the modern security features needed for sensitive data control. Many were not developed through the Secure By Design approach, for example, so they may have vulnerabilities in their code that could put data in jeopardy. Others were quite simply not designed to handle sensitive data.
Many conventional email systems, for example, do not use end-to-end encryption to secure messages. The same applies to traditional file-sharing systems, many of which were designed for convenience, rather than cybersecurity.
Entities needing to fully secure their sensitive data have to look past these tools and opt for stronger, more fitting alternatives. A company that relies on SharePoint for document management, for example, should consider secure SharePoint alternatives to better protect its documents and data.
Key features to look for in secure data systems, which are often missing in conventional counterparts, include:
- Fine-grained access controls
- Strong encryption standards
- Detailed logging and traceability
- Cross-organisation permission management
Secure Collaboration Platforms with Proven Credentials
Modern secure collaboration platforms are the perfect modern solution for organisations seeking to safeguard their data. Kahootz is a known and proven example, trusted by such entities as the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), Ministry of Defence (MOD), Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), and His Majesty’s Land Registry.
Kahootz security features and standards include:
- The UK’s most trusted server technology
- State-of-the-art data encryption, both at rest and in transit
- 100% GDPR compliance
- Resiliency against network, power, connectivity, and hardware issues
- Minimum uptimes of 99.95%, guaranteed
- Independent auditing following CHECK and ISO 27001 standards
- Physical and environmental data centre protections, such as CCTV and perimeter fencing
- Near real-time data backups
- Consistent maintenance and upgrades in alignment with evolving security standards
- Granular access controls to prevent unauthorised access
A UK-based and MOD-asssured platform, Kahootz is officially approved to handle OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE data at the governmental level and completely meets all major data compliance regulations, including ISO/IEC 27001. Thanks to this, it has been trusted as the platform of choice for such high-profile projects as the FutureNHS initiative and Defence Trust:
- FutureNHS: FutureNHS bridges the gaps between thousands of health care professionals and providers across the UK, allowing them to safely exchange sensitive medical data in order to offer superior patient outcomes for those in their care.
- Defence Share: Defence Share is the official collaboration platform for the Ministry of Defence. It facilitates the safe exchange and sharing of OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE data with MOD partners, other government agencies, and even allied nations around the globe.
Kahootz and similar secure collaboration platforms are also used across other industries, such as finance and retail, helping brands secure their supply chains, share data with confidence and transparency, and improve their operations while minimising data-related risks.
Conclusion: Invest in the Strongest Security for Sensitive Data Management
When it comes to sensitive data, organisations cannot afford to take unnecessary risks. Using subpar or outdated tools and systems could easily lead to breaches and leaks, and where sensitive data is involved, there is no such thing as a small loss – even a relatively minor breach can have major consequences for those involved.
As such, it is vital for any entity that handles sensitive data daily to invest in the necessary tools to keep it safe. That includes secure collaboration platforms, like Kahootz, as well as strong data management policies, comprehensive employee education, and additional industry-specific measures to give your sensitive data the best chance of remaining secure at all times.
