Secure storage of unstructured data

Secure storage of unstructured data

It's not just numbers organized into tables, it's a torrent of images, videos, emails, text documents, and audio recordings. This type of data, which lacks a predefined structure, is known as unstructured data. In our digital age, this data has become the real treasure. It carries the details of customer lives, the secret to corporate success, and the key to innovation. But, as with any treasure, protecting it requires a solid strategy. So how can we ensure the secure storage of unstructured data? This is the question we will dive into, exploring challenges and solutions in a simple and interesting way that everyone understands.

What is Unstructured Data

 Structured Data: Books are neatly arranged on the shelves, and each book has a specific classification number, author, and publication date. They are easy to find and manage using traditional databases such as Excel spreadsheets   or SQL databases. 

Unstructured data: Everything else in the library:  handwritten notes, audio recordings of lectures, emails between researchers, and photographs of events. This data does not follow a specific model, and makes up approximately 80% to 90% of the total global data.

Examples of unstructured data 

• Multimedia: Photos, videos, audio files.

• Texts: Emails, Word documents, PDFs, social media posts.

• Sensor data: IoT data, server logs.

Why is storing them a security challenge?
The chaotic nature of unstructured data is both a source of strength and weakness. The main security challenges stem from:

• Massive size and accelerated growth: This data is growing exponentially. The larger the data, the more difficult it becomes to track and enforce security policies. Sensitive files may be forgotten in dark corners of storage systems.

• Limited Blind Spots: It's hard to know exactly what these files contain. Does  an old PDF  contain sensitive personal information? Does a particular image carry confidential data?

• The prevalence of data sprawl: Unstructured files are often copied and stored in multiple places on employee computers, various cloud services, and shared drives. This spread increases  the Attack Surface and makes centralized control more difficult.

• Difficulty in enforcing traditional controls: Traditional security systems are designed to protect structured databases. Applying the same controls to billions of unstructured objects requires completely different tools and techniques.

Key Pillars of Secure Storage Comprehensive Strategy

To achieve the secure storage of unstructured data, we must rely on three key pillars that work together: technology, policy, and culture.

Smart Gadget Technology

Unstructured data protection relies heavily on the use of modern storage technologies and advanced security tools.

 Object Storage: Ideal Structure
Object Storage is the perfect solution for storing unstructured data. Instead of storing files in hierarchical folders like a traditional file system, each file is stored as a unique object.

• Built-in security: Each object comes with metadata that describes it, making it easier to apply security policies and retain data at the individual object level.

• Infinite scaling: This type of storage can grow to contain billions of objects without affecting performance, which solves the problem of sheer size.

• Immutability: Some object storage solutions enable WORM once-write and read multiple times, preventing data from being modified or deleted after it is stored, which is a crucial feature in the fight against ransomware attacks. 

Encryption: Encryption is the 
first and most important line of defense. Encryption should be applied in two situations:

• Encryption in Transit: Protect data as it travels from a user's device to a storage system using protocols such as SSL/TLS.

• Encryption at Rest: Protect data while stored on the hard drive. Objects must be encrypted before they are stored, preferably with user-managed Customer-Managed Keys to ensure complete control.

Access Control: The principle
 of least privilege must be applied, which means that each user or application is given only the minimum permissions necessary to perform its function.

• RBAC role-based  access control: Define permissions based on the user's role such as: accountant, developer, system administrator.

• MFA:  A username and password are not enough. A second verification agent such as a code sent to the phone must be requested to ensure that the person trying to access is the rightful owner.

  Data Discovery and Classification: Seeing First
You Can't Protect What You Don't Know. These tools use artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically examine and classify the content of unstructured data:

• Identify sensitive data: Identify files that contain credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, or health information.

• Tagging  app: Meta-tagging objects such as: confidential, client-specific, must be deleted after 2025. These tags enable the implementation of accurate and automated security policies.

Policies and procedures, rules regulating
technology alone are not enough. It must be supported by a strong framework of policies and procedures.

 Data Governance: Who Owns What?
Data governance is the set of rules that define who is responsible for data, how it is used, and how it is protected.

• Identify Owners:  Each set of unstructured data must be assigned an Owner who is responsible for determining its sensitivity level and enforcing access policies.

• Retention and deletion policies: Specify how long data should be retained. Keeping unnecessary data is a security and legal burden. The deletion process must be secure and automated.

Backup and Disaster Recovery: 
Backup is not just a preventative measure, it is an essential part of a security strategy.

• Rule 3.2.1: Three copies of data must be retained, on two different mediums, with one copy offsite  or in the cloud.

• Air-Gapped Backup:  At least one copy of backups must be completely isolated from the main network. This ensures that ransomware attacks don't get to them.

 Auditing and Monitoring: 
Every attempt to access, modify, or delete unstructured data must be recorded.

• Access Logs: Analyzing these logs helps detect suspicious behaviors such as an employee trying to access thousands of files in a short time.

• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Use advanced systems to analyze security logs and alert your security team immediately when a potential breach is detected.

Culture and Training The human
 element remains the weakest link in the safety chain.

• Security Awareness: Training employees on how to handle unstructured data. When should a file be encrypted? Where should it be stored? and how to recognize phishing messages.

• Acceptable Use Policy: Clarification of what is and is not allowed in relation to the storage and sharing of unstructured data such as prohibiting the storage of work data on unsecured personal devices.

Comparison of Storage Solutions Where Do We Put Treasure?
To understand the importance of object storage, let's compare it to other solutions:

The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Unstructured Data Security
As data continues to grow, handheld tools will become powerless. The future relies on AI and ML   to enhance security:

• Anomaly Detection:  The AI can analyze users' normal access patterns, and identify any anomaly or deviation such as trying to load a large amount of encrypted data suddenly, indicating a ransomware attack.

• Security Automation: Automate the process of implementing security policies based on data classification. Once a file is classified as confidential, the system automatically applies encryption and restricts access to it.

• Advanced identity management: Use artificial intelligence to determine if a user trying to access is indeed the rightful owner, based on their location, device, and timing of the access attempt.

Protecting the treasure is everyone's responsibility 
Secure storage of unstructured data is not just a technical task, but an integrated business strategy. In a world where cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated, and data privacy laws such as GDPR are increasing, security is no longer an option, but an absolute necessity.
By embracing object storage technologies, enforcing strict encryption, enforcing the principle of least privileged, and most importantly, building a strong security culture among employees, organizations can turn digital chaos into a secure and sustainable treasure. Protecting these treasures is a shared responsibility that ensures business continuity and customer trust in the digital age.