As InfoSec professionals, we’re all looking for new ways to innovate our processes and take data security to the next level. Luckily, there are plenty of real-world examples we can look to for inspiration and guidance on protecting and safeguarding customer data. After all, customer data is not only required to keep your business moving forward—protecting this data builds your reputation in the industry as a customer-centric organization.

Here are some proven steps top companies are taking to ensure their valuable customer data is safe and secure:

1. Adopting a Zero Trust approach to data security.

While smaller organizations have the luxury of being more flexible with vendor risk management, larger companies have to approach data security with a "guilty until proven innocent" mindset. Zero Trust is a concept of assuming risk at every point and never trusting—it always requires verification.

2. Relying on enterprise solutions to keep data safe.

Data privacy isn’t something that can be managed alone, even by top corporations. Leading organizations that manage vast amounts of customer data rely on enterprise-level solutions, i.e., encryption, network protection, data loss protection, etc., to keep data safe on a macro level.

3. Building corporate cultures of privacy and security.

The most successful InfoSec strategies are not confined to the IT department alone. Every person at an organization represents a risk to customer data, and top companies build a corporate culture of education, information, and open access to security documentation. This could mean requiring all employees to pass a HIPAA certification exam, making IT security part of an onboarding process, or sending regular IT updates to the team.

4. Monitoring every aspect of data access.

Top companies must rely on employees to successfully do their jobs, handle customer data, and reach their goals without adding unnecessary risk. Sometimes, this means accessing customer data on unsecured devices or networks. To protect against manual error or unintentional risk, top companies implement controls to monitor data access at every level. This can include protocols like two-factor authentication, VPNs, and other solutions to monitor access.

5. Remembering encryption is still vital.

Top organizations have some of the same security concerns as smaller companies regarding customer data security. With an encryption-forward corporate strategy, top organizations can build robust data privacy and IT security initiatives with customer data as a primary focus.

Want to get started?

Whether you’re just starting with risk management protocols or looking for innovative ways to take your risk management processes to the next level, Whistic can help. The best-in-class vendor risk management platform allows InfoSec teams to stay on top of active and processing risk assessments, publish security protocols for internal and external audiences, and develop documentation for top-down security education initiatives.

You can learn more and schedule your look at the Whistic solution here.