Let’s Gain the Understanding of Sensitive Information With large quantities of sensitive data being generated and exchanged every second, it is more important than ever that company take steps to protect the data. The article will include a detailed guide to confidential information so that people know how best to protect their organization. Sensitive Business information is data that must be secured against unauthorized access and unwarranted disclosure to protect a person or organization's information protection. Sensitive information is not collected from unrestricted directories, as opposed to public information and does not include any information from government records legally made available to the general public. That means that sensitive data exposure can potentially cause financial or personal harm. There are three major categories of sensitive information: •
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Personal Information: Personal information also called personally identifiable information is any data that can be linked to a particular individual and used to facilitate identity theft. For example, knowing the Social Security number of a person and the maiden name of a mother makes it easier to apply for a credit card on their behalf, and knowing the passport and visa number of the person makes it easier to create a false document. Business Information: Sensitive business information is any data revealed to a competitor or the general public that would pose a risk to the company. For instance, information such as intellectual property, trade secrets or merger plans could all be harmful to the business if it fell into the hands of a rival. Furthermore, there would be substantial financial penalties for breaching sensitive business information such as customer and supplier records or cardholder data. The firm would have to spend money on responding to and recovering from the breach and its reputation would fall among its stakeholders and clients. Classified Information: Classified information is information that has been deliberately kept secret at a governmental level. It typically belongs to a certain sensitivity level which restricts the people who have access to the information. Just as the release of sensitive personal and business information may cause personal or organizational harm, the infringement of classified information has the potential to seriously threaten the goals and international standing of a government.
Because of the massive volumes of data generated and processed by the IT systems today, organizations must manage security and privacy properly. However, problems such as largescale cloud infrastructures, the variety and volume of sources of data and formats, and the broadcasting nature of data acquisition make data protection even more difficult.