Data classificationis afundamental security practiceused toprotect sensitive informationbased onrisk, confidentiality, integrity, and regulatory requirements.
Key Factors in Data Classification:
* Data Sensitivity:
* Organizations classify data based onhow sensitive it is:
* Public(e.g., marketing material).
* Internal Use Only(e.g., business plans).
* Confidential(e.g., financial reports).
* Restricted/Highly Confidential(e.g., personal healthcare records, credit card details).
* Compliance & Legal Requirements:
* Certain data types have strict compliance laws:
* PII (Personally Identifiable Information) # GDPR, CCPA
* Financial Data # PCI DSS
* Healthcare Data # HIPAA
* Cloud providers must ensure security policies align with compliance frameworks.
* Impact on Security Controls:
* Highly sensitive data requires encryption at rest and in transit.
* Access control must be enforced with least privilege and IAM policies.
* Risk Management:
* Properdata classification helps organizations define security policiessuch as:
* Retention policies(How long data should be stored?).
* Backup and disaster recovery strategies.
This is outlined in:
* CCSK v5 - Security Guidance v4.0, Domain 11 (Data Security and Encryption)
* Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) - Data Security and Data Classification Standards