So far, we have discussed so many different topics like different frameworks, technologies used for making websites and apps, web development, app development. But, what about a database, data security or the technologies used for enhancing data security that holds all the data which makes your website or app complete.

So here, I want to share my learning about Data security and its core technologies with you. So, let's start with Data security.

With many people working from home and using the internet more often, the pandemic has proven the perfect opportunities for cyberattacks. That's why Data security has always been on the top for software providers, especially for user privacy lovers.

What is it?

Data security is a set of processes and practices designed to protect your critical information technology (IT) ecosystem. It included files, databases, accounts, and networks. Data security is one of the best methods for evaluating threats and reducing the risk associated with data storage and handling.

Why is Data Security Important?

Data security is crucial to public and private sector organizations for a variety of reasons. First, the legal and moral commitment including, companies have to protect their user and customer data from hackers. Then, Financial firms may be subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) that makes companies take all reasonable measures to protect user data.

Then there comes the reputational risk of a data rupture or hack. It means that your reputation may damage in the event of a publicized, high-profile breach or hack.

Approaches and technologies that help to ensure high-level data security

Using the right data security technologies can help your organization prevent breaches, reduce risk, and sustain protective security measures.

• Data Risk Assessment

A data risk assessment will help your organization identify its most overexposed, sensitive data. To ensure maximum security while exchanging data, you should start with estimating risks your company may face. Threat Modeling helps you conduct a security analysis and define vulnerabilities related to system design. Later you can spot security problems using code reviews or penetration testing. Although for proper risk assessment, you can go for OWASP Risk Rating Methodology.

• End to end encryption

You might see this message on your Whatsapp. It ensures the privacy of communication between users. It is like a data protection method of encoding data that prevents data leakage during transmission between sender and receipt.

• HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure(HTTPS)

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a protocol where websites and data can be encrypted and securely exchanged between web servers and web browsers around the internet. It uses end-to-end encryption and authentication. Today, all popular browsers support HTTPS. It is a more secure alternative to HTTP. Many Internet department stores use this to secure their payment transactions and the exchange of sensitive customer data.

• NaCl

Do not take this NaCl as common salt. Yes, it is but in chemistry. Here, NACL stands for Network Access Control Lists. It is a fast and easy to use software library tailored to network communication, encryption, decryptions and signatures.

• Data Auditing

Security breaches are often unavoidable, so you need to have a process in place that gets to the root cause. Data auditing software solutions capture and report on things, like control changes to data, records of who accessed sensitive information, and the file path utilized. These audit procedures are all essential to the breach investigation process.

Why serve a website via HTTPS?

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The protocol is also referred to as HTTP over TLS or HTTP over SSL. HTTPS URLs begin with "https://" and use port 443 by default, whereas, HTTP URLs begin with "http://" and use port 80 by default.

The basis of HTTPS is public-private key cryptography. The public key is for encryption and the private key is secret and is required for decryption. Both are randomly generated and stored on the server. HTTPS is especially important over insecure networks and networks that may be subject to tampering.

As more information is revealed about global mass surveillance and criminals stealing personal information, the use of HTTPS security on all websites is becoming increasingly important regardless of the type of Internet connection being used.

According to the information -

As of April 2018, 33.2% of Alexa top 1,000,000 websites use HTTPS as default, 57.1% of the Internet's 137,971 most popular websites have a secure implementation of HTTPS, and 70% of page loads (measured by Firefox Telemetry) use HTTPS.

End to end encryption best practices

This one is considered the most secure method for exchanging data online. This technology allows encrypting messages at both ends of a conversation. It helps to prevent someone in the middle from accessing private information.

End-to-end encryption, also known as E2EE is a method to secure data communication between two parties by applying encryption in such a way that only the targeted recipient can decrypt/read it.

It includes Asymmetric encryption. Here is how it works:

• Person A creates two keys: one public, one private and sends the public one to person B through different channels
• Person B encrypts the message with the public key it received and sends it to person A using any on hand channel
• Person A decrypts the data sent by person B with the secret private key is created.

On the other hand, Symmetric-key encryption is a type of encryption where only one key is used for encrypting and decrypting the information. In this situation, both sender and recipient must exchange it so it can be used for reading the conversation.

End-to-end encryption is currently applied in the healthcare, communications, or finance sectors whenever it comes to data protection. It is currently the most secure method to send sensitive data nowadays.

So This was all about my blog. And I hope that you came to know that why this is so important to know about Data Security and technologies. It was an informative blog which is telling you all about our encryption. If you are a developer or just a user, you must know bout these core technologies for your better knowledge.

In the end, I just would like to say that as your worries and focuses on your development tools and techniques, same as that makes data security your the number one priority for having a better user experience.

Have a good Reading!!

Thankyou!