What is Digital Security?
Digital security is the set of best practices and tools used to safeguard a person or business’s data and online identity. It includes things like password managers, antivirus software and parental controls. It also includes more aggressive strategies, such as regularly checking if you’ve been hacked (and changing your passwords right away).
The most basic form of digital security is something we all practice: Using difficult-to-guess passwords for our online accounts, avoiding sharing those passwords with others and limiting our exposure to suspicious popups, links or emails. More advanced forms of digital security include implementing firewalls that filter out malicious information and two-factor authentication on our cell phones.
Another important component of digital security is keeping up to date with the latest risks, threats and vulnerabilities. This can be done through regular training sessions, which not only boosts team morale but helps them recognise potential risks and avoid them.
It can also be done through governance programs, which provide structure around the selection, implementation and maintenance of policies and controls to minimize risk and enable compliance with laws and industry regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA). It also includes creating and enforcing an organization’s risk tolerance framework, which will determine whether or not to accept, transfer or avoid risks. This is a critical aspect of cyber defense because it allows businesses to take more proactive measures to protect themselves from things like phishing scams, ransomware attacks, data breaches and financial losses.