You have been asked to design a security policy for a database that contains very sensitive information. Discuss five important issues that should be addressed.
When designing a security policy for a database that contains sensitive information, it is important to consider the following five issues: data encryption, access control, user authentication, data backup and cyber security.
Data encryption is necessary when dealing with highly confidential information as it ensures only those who are authorized can view or modify the data (Mallya & Rajasekharan Pillai, 2017). Access control prevents unauthorized users from accessing the database while also allowing administrators to set permissions based on who needs what type of access (Garg et al., 2020). User authentication verifies identity before granting access thus ensuring that only approved individuals are able to perform specific tasks within the system (Kumar & Gupta 2018) . Data backup provides an additional layer of protection by creating copies of files so if something were to happen, there would be no loss of valuable information (Kamble et al., 2019). Finally, cyber security plays a crucial role in protecting databases from external threats such as hackers or malware attacks via measures like firewalls and other network monitoring systems (Dhankar et al., 2020).
In summary, these are just some of the key elements which need addressing when constructing a secure policy for databases containing sensitive information. While technology can play an important part in providing protection thorough encryption and backups etc. Ultimately it is up to us humans to create rules which ensure this data remains safe in our possession.
As discussed by Bottazzo (2005), a company’s employees are one of its main groups of potential stakeholders. As a result, the satisfaction of employees is considered equal to the satisfaction of customers and shareholders, becoming an important element of an organisation’s strategic mission. This has created a paradigm shift of internal communication from one-way informing of employees, to a two-way communication with the inclusion of training, education and motivation.
The goal of internal communication is to achieve employee-company advocacy, with workers buying into the missions and values of the organisation and reflect those to other potential stakeholders. Therefore it’s necessary for Recticel to maintain the use of different platforms for everyday communication, including email, telephone, webinars and Skype – which allows a range of users to ‘dial in’ to a meeting and share computer screens. For a multi-national company, well-rounded communication from management is crucial – to offer information, support and a sense of community for plants that cannot be supported through emails or phone calls alone (Pinsky, 2015).
Recticel address this through an internal intranet system, RICK (Recticel Intranet Centre of Knowledge). RICK contains all of the documents, training and support required by individual plants to help run their business successfully. In a manufacturing environment, changes can take place rapidly – this method of instantaneous communication will assist individual plants to sync their business activities.
RICK boosts the company’s efforts of ‘on boarding’ – the introduction of new employees to the company. In a company of this size, the automation of an on boarding programme streamlines talent management initiatives and improves productivity long term. A personalised level of access to the intranet system facilitates a steady flow of well-timed information to new employees (Friedmann, 2012). There are instances where automation in the ‘on boarding’ and communication processes have their disadvantages. In large manufacturing companies like Recticel, where most employees work the assembly line rather than at a desk, not all employees have the same access to information and training.