The Advent of New Technologies and Its Impact on Data Security

Digital technologies are permeating every sphere of life and ergo, bringing data security into greater focus. As new technologies keep fueling the digital revolution, they get critically evaluated through the prism of information security, of which data security is a part.

While Cloud Computing may be considered mainstream, AI, Blockchain, Data Analytics, Edge computing, 5G, IoT, social media are among some of the more prominent emerging technologies that are being rapidly adopted. They often come in a mixed bag of solutions and challenges for information security. Conversion of physical world parameters into a virtual form by representative data points is a typical process in digital enablement. Any distortion or manipulation of the data would likely cause undesirable consequences on the desired output.

The key impacts arise from the significant increase in volume, velocity, and variety of mission- critical as well as sensitive data that these technologies generate or process. Furthermore, data is no longer confined to limited or fully controlled physical resources or locations. As a result, data becomes widely accessible and available. Hence, adopters of digital must take proactive steps to address information security end-to-end. From a data security perspective, it starts with the end-user who must ensure that data is secure in devices within their control. The next challenge is to ensure secure data transportation, storage, or processing.

The wide adoption of IoT has resulted in an explosion of data that is ultimately fed to the edge or cloud for further processing. These technologies must incorporate necessary controls to ensure information security and data are not compromised. AI and data analytics are tools that assist in working with vast amounts of data while also ensuring their security. These tools are often enabled by cloud computing infrastructure. In the Cloud/ Edge computing environments, data visibility, control, segregation, and compliance with relevant data security standards/regulations are of paramount importance.

Blockchain technologies play a major role in ensuring the availability of tamper-proof data even though it deals with large volumes. Again, cloud environments may be the choice to run this technology.

Therefore, it is given that wider adoption of digital technologies greatly enables enterprises, but it also increases the Information Security threat surface. However, understanding the threat scenario and taking adequate measures to protect data by leveraging technologies such as AI, Data Analytics – is key to deriving true advantages of digital enablement.

By IC Aiyappan Pillai, Senior Member IEEE, Founder, Congruent Services