What is Data Security?
Data security refers to protective measures and processes designed to protect data from a range of threats: unauthorized access, leakage, corruption, theft, or accidental deletion.
While the exact practices involved in data security vary from business to business and sector to sector, the primary goal is to ensure sensitive data’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Strong data security is particularly important for businesses like financial records, customer data, and intellectual property.
Examples of Data Security
Data security practices have proliferated over the years. That’s partly because threat actors, such as hackers, continually develop new strategies for exploiting system vulnerabilities.
Typical examples of data security strategies include:
- Encryption: The process of encoding data to make it unreadable to unauthorized users. It can be applied to data at rest (stored on devices or servers) or data in transit (transmitted over networks).
- Access controls: Data access is restricted based on user roles and permissions. Only authorized individuals can view, modify, or delete sensitive information.
- Firewalls: Monitoring and controlling network traffic to prevent unauthorized access. Firewalls are a barrier between trusted internal networks and untrusted external networks like the internet.
- Data backup and recovery: Regularly backing up data to physical databases and the cloud to ensure business continuity in case of data loss or corruption. Backup and recovery processes help organizations quickly restore data during a security incident or system failure.
- Network monitoring: Specialized systems designed to detect anomalies on business systems, for example, that indicate that someone is trying to infiltrate a network.
- Devices policies: Business policies designed to restrict how employees use their personal devices for work, often used to mandate VPNs and other security measures when employees access sensitive data.
Why Data Security Matters in Accounts Payable Processing?
Unsurprisingly, financial data is among the most sensitive. It’s also among the most valuable to treat actors. Thus, data security is particularly important in areas like accounts payable (AP) processing.
AP departments handle a wealth of sensitive financial information, including vendor data, bank account details, and transaction records. A data breach in AP can lead to severe consequences, such as:
- Financial losses: Unauthorized access to AP data can result in fraudulent transactions, false invoices, and stolen funds. Cybercriminals may target AP systems to divert payments or manipulate financial records for personal gain.
- Reputational damage: Data breaches can damage a business’s reputation and erode trust, both in the eyes of customers, partners, and the public.
- Legal and compliance issues: Failure to protect sensitive data can lead to non-compliance with regulations such as GDPR, SOX, and PCI DSS, resulting in hefty fines or even legal repercussions. Organizations must demonstrate due diligence in securing AP data to avoid legal liabilities.
Best Practices to Protect and Secure Data
Data security practices vary widely depending on the nature of the business, the types of data it keeps, and the potential risks data loss presents.
To mitigate data security risks for organizations managing sensitive data, organizations should adopt at least the following best practices:
- Strong access controls: Enforce role-based access controls and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to ensure that only authorized personnel can access sensitive data. Regularly review and update user permissions as employees come and go from your business.
- Encrypt sensitive data: Protect data both at rest and in transit using robust encryption algorithms to render it unreadable to anyone attempting to intercept or steal it. Prioritize strong encryption for databases, file systems, and communication channels.
- Conduct regular security audits: Perform periodic assessments of systems that handle sensitive information, such as in AP and P2P, to identify and address vulnerabilities proactively.
- Train employees on security protocols: Staff should be educated on data security best practices, including how to identify and report potential threats.
How Does Automation Enhance Data Security?
Today, advanced data security has become easier to implement at scale thanks to automated security solutions.
Automatic network monitoring, anomaly detection, and secure, cloud-based storage help reduce the likelihood of data breaches. This involves some of the following processes:
- Eliminating manual processes: Automation reduces the need for manual data entry and handling, minimizing the risk of human error and unauthorized access. For example, by digitizing AP workflows, organizations can maintain better control over sensitive financial data.
- Centralized data management: Organizations can consolidate AP data in a secure, cloud-based platform to better control access and monitor data usage. Centralized data storage eliminates the need for dispersed spreadsheets and paper documents, reducing the risk of data loss or theft.
- Built-in security features: If you handle sensitive data such as payment info, choose software systems with built-in security such as encryption, user authentication, and audit trails, to ensure data protection. Ensure these are purpose-designed to meet appropriate security standards and regulatory requirements.
Reduce Data Security Threats, Automate with SoftCo
SoftCo’s accounts payable automation solution is designed with data security at its core.
By automating AP processes with SoftCo, organizations can significantly reduce data security risks, prevent financial losses, and maintain the trust of their stakeholders.
