Data sanitisation standards are an important part of any organisation’s data management procedures. They ensure that data is destroyed or irrecoverable, preventing any unauthorised access to sensitive information. Failure to adhere to these standards can result in hefty fines and reputational damage for your business, as well as a breach of your customers’ trust. Data sanitisation standards DIN66399 standard are structured around six principles. These include identification, encryption, destruction and marking of data so that it cannot be recovered using the usual methods. Read on to find out more about why you need data sanitisation standards DIN66399 standard in your office, and how they can help prevent any breaches of sensitive information stored on your computer network or servers.
Why You Need Data Sanitisation Standards DIN66399 Standard in Your Office
Data sanitisation standards are designed to ensure that any data that needs to be destroyed can no longer be accessed. This means that even if the data is recovered, the methods used will render it useless. If you work in the healthcare, financial or government industries, where there is a high risk of data breaches, these standards will be key in protecting your customers’ sensitive information. DIN66399 data sanitisation standard can help your business to adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements that came into force in May 2018. This has increased the fines for businesses that fail to protect customer data to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher. These standards can also help to protect your company from data theft and cyber attacks, as hackers will find it difficult to access the information they are looking for if it has been sanitised.
Identification of data to be sanitized
The first part of the data sanitisation standards DIN66399 standard involves identifying the data that needs to be sanitized. This should be done as soon as it is no longer needed, so that it can be destroyed as soon as possible. Identifying the data sets that need to be sanitized can be done manually or via a virtual data environment (VDM). If you are using a VDM, you can use an automated sanitisation tool that will identify all the data sets that should be destroyed. Identify the data sets that need to be sanitized as early as possible, so that you have enough time to destroy them before they are needed again. This reduces the chance of accidentally destroying data that you need.
Encryption of sanitized data
It is also important to sanitise the data that needs to be destroyed by encrypting it. This will prevent the data from being readable by anyone who may access the computer network or servers where it is stored. Encryption is particularly important for data sets that you cannot destroy, such as audit trails and payment transactions, as it ensures that the data cannot be accessed by unauthorised individuals, even if it has not been sanitized. Encryption software has been designed to be quick and easy to use, so it can be done as soon as the data sets need to be sanitized. This reduces the risk of a hacker accessing the data before it has been encrypted.
Destruction of sanitized data
The next step in the data sanitisation standards DIN66399 standard is the destruction of sanitized data. The data can be destroyed using one of two methods: Physical destruction: Physically destroying the data using a shredder or incinerator so that it cannot be recovered. Physical destruction is the most secure way to destroy data, but it can be costly and time-consuming depending on the volume of data that needs to be destroyed. Physical destruction is recommended for paper documents, as they cannot be sanitized electronically. Electronic destruction: Destroying the data electronically, either by overwriting it multiple times or deleting it with secure deletion software that prevents it from being recovered. Overwriting the data multiple times is the more secure option, but it is also more time-consuming, so it is recommended only for bulk data. If you use secure deletion software, it should be verified to be compliant with the data sanitisation standards DIN66399 standard.
Marking of destroyed data for auditing purposes
Once the data has been destroyed, you should mark the data sets to show that they cannot be recovered. This will help to prevent accidental destruction of data that still needs to be available. There are two main methods for marking data sets that have been sanitized and destroyed. Data integrity standards: Data integrity standards can be used to mark the data in such a way that it cannot be recovered. Data integrity standards can be applied to two types of data: Audit trails and payment transactions. Data integrity standards can also include a timestamp or data provenance to indicate when the data was sanitized. Data tagging: Data tags can be added to the data sets that have been sanitized and destroyed. This will show that the data cannot be recovered and will prevent the accidental destruction of data that still needs to be available. Data tags can be applied manually or via a software-based system that is compliant with data sanitisation standards DIN66399.
Conclusion and Summary
Data sanitisation standards are an important part of any organisation’s data management procedures. They ensure that data is destroyed or irrecoverable, preventing any unauthorised access to sensitive information. Failure to adhere to these standards can result in hefty fines and reputational damage for your business, as well as a breach of your customers’ trust. These standards are structured around six principles. These include identification of data that needs to be sanitized, encryption of sanitized data, destruction of sanitized data, and marking of destroyed data for auditing purposes. If you work in the healthcare, financial or government industries, where there is a high risk of data breaches, data sanitisation standards are key in protecting your customers’ sensitive information.
