Data Privacy and How Network Security Can Help Protect Data

Michael Marlowe is director of strategy and vice president of new markets for ChaseTek, a Columbus, OH-based technology infrastructure management company that provides solutions to businesses across various industries. As the reach and use of the Internet expand, Michael Marlowe and the team at ChaseTek have responded to increasing concerns about data privacy and protection by providing network security services to clients.

Data privacy generally refers to a company’s appropriate use of information provided to it by consumers. It also entails a business’ duty to secure consumer data to protect lawfully collected information from unauthorized use by third parties. 

As more and more business is conducted over the Internet, consumers disclose more and more personal information to faceless entities electronically. Ecommerce platforms, interactive websites, and social media routinely collect consumers’ names and birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers and locations, and credit card information. 

Traditional businesses may also collect and store sensitive consumer data on their private internal network systems. When consumers disclose personal identifying information to businesses over the Internet or otherwise, they expect the business to protect the information. In the United States, various laws dictate the protections that must be accorded to certain personal information.

Network security measures can help protect a company’s network from unauthorized access to consumer information. Such measures include email gateway security methods to block malicious emails, behavioral analytics tools to detect suspicious behavior on your network, firewalls that serve as a barrier between an internal network and outside threats, and intrusion prevention systems that scan traffic on the network to actively block attacks. 

Businesses and consumers can also take simple measures to make personal information harder to access, such as ensuring that software and security programs are up to date, password protecting Wi-Fi connections and all devices, and becoming savvy to email phishing schemes.