With the ever-growing amount of data available, many businesses are capitalizing on the valuable information contained within by building data warehouses to centralize information, analyze it, and use it to make critical business decisions. A data warehouse integrates data from disparate sources so they can be analyzed together to give more granular view of events that have occurred and more accurate predictions of what will happen in the future.
From a security standpoint, however, managing and setting permissions to access a compilation of data from different applications and sources creates a unique set of challenges. Data warehouse security should be at the forefront of any data warehouse project.
1. Built-in security
It’s important to determine your data warehouse security requirements as early as possible in the planning stages of your project because it could be difficult to add some security features after the data warehouse has gone live. Take into consideration the types of data that you’ll be housing—as not all data will require the same level of security. Information like credit card data and personal information like social security numbers requires a much higher level of security than things like purchasing trends or buyer preferences, although your data and intellectual property merit protection as well.
2. Consider future data sources
When constructing your data warehouse, don’t forget to look ahead. Consider future sources of data as well as the types of security measures and audit restrictions they will require.
3. Data classification and user access
To maintain data warehouse security, there are a few different avenues for how to categorize data and create a hierarchy for security protocols. One option is to classify data according to sensitivity with the most sensitive data having the most restrictions. Another option is to classify the data based on job function. For example, the HR department would have access to birthdates and social security numbers, but the sales department wouldn’t have access to that sensitive employee information, even if their job title “outranks” someone in that department. Access can also be restricted by a hierarchy of users, with “senior analysts” having more access than “junior analysts.”
Realistically, there could be the need for cross-departmental access to particular classifications of data, so it is best to map out the needs of your particular organization and grant access accordingly.
4. Establish audit requirements
Performing consistent and regular audits of your data warehouse can help you spot vulnerabilities and prevent a breach from occurring. Areas to consider are connections, disconnections, data access and data change. Audit both successes and failures; in fact, auditing of failures is critical because it highlights unauthorized or fraudulent access so they can be prevented in the future.
5. Ensure network security
Data in transit to or from the data warehouse can be vulnerable. Evaluate the need for encryption or restrictions for how to transfer and store data. Balance the need for heightened security with your budget—don’t cut corners, but don’t secure operations that don’t require it.
Analyzing data from all available sources can give you new insights that can vault your business forward from an efficiency, productivity and competiveness perspective. Carefully planning how you will manage and protect your data warehouse will ensure you gain those advantages in a way that keeps your data, your network and your business secure.
