Thales e-Security’s Brent Hansen: Encrypting Data at Rest Key to Agencies’ Cyber Defense Efforts

Brent Hansen, senior director of solution architects at Thales e-Security, has said federal agencies seeking to build up their cybersecurity posture should prioritize the adoption of technology platforms that work to encrypt data at rest.

Hansen wrote that encrypting data at rest could help agencies safeguard critical information from cyber breaches and insider threats amid limited budgets and shortage in security personnel.

œThe most effective way to protect data through encryption is with technology that wraps data in access controls, he noted.

Access control-based technologies work to help agency IT administrators to restrict data access to specific users, services and processes as well as impose restrictions when it comes to data decryption.

Hansen said the deployment of such tools could help government security personnel gain access to detailed metrics and other insights necessary to become œmore proactive amid the evolving cyber threats.

These metrics may include attempts of data access in the past month, the number of successful attempts and administrative credentials used by threat actors in their efforts to access information.

He also called on agencies to strike a balance among cybersecurity requirements, human resources and budget.

œAgencies are much better off spending 30 percent of their budget on encryption offering 90 percent protection, he added.

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