Click to learn more about author Anurag Kahol.

This past year proved to be a time of dramatic change for companies and consumers all around the world. The remote work shift led to a surge in cloud usage as users, devices, apps, and data were forced to move off-premises. In fact, 54 percent of organizations confirm that the pandemic accelerated the migration of workflows to cloud-based apps.

Most companies were unprepared as their technology, built solely for on-premises environments, was not sufficient enough to protect the new cloud-based remote workforce. Consequently, data breaches have become a regular occurrence, and consumers are increasingly discovering that their personal information is being gathered from these incidents and used without their consent. Over the next year, we will see a permanent blend of in-office and remote work, and organizations must ensure that all their data remains secure.

Know Where All Data Lives

Companies can begin by keeping an accurate inventory of all data they control. By managing the data they have and where it goes, companies can maintain compliance with data privacy regulations while also protecting the privacy of their customers. To address this issue, companies must monitor all file, app, user, and web activity with comprehensive activity logs to uncover the whereabouts of consumers’ data.

Ensure Secure Access

In addition to consistently tracking data, organizations must limit access to sensitive information, as well as the storage systems that hold the information. This can serve as a challenge for organizations that leverage cloud technologies but do not use the proper technology to secure them. Consequently, consumer data can be potentially accessed across numerous applications and on various devices. To verify users are truly who they say, organizations must enable single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA). These solutions can ensure all employees are authenticated prior to accessing sensitive information as well as create limits for who is accessing the data.

As more companies migrate to the cloud, it’s critical that they have a clear understanding of data jurisdiction as well as the security challenges that may arise. Data privacy regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) dictate that data can only be stored or moved when an agreement is in place or when the state has the authority to do so. To adhere to such regulations, companies must adopt security solutions that provide contextual-based access control, advanced threat protection, and data loss prevention capabilities. For consolidated ease of use and cost-effective operations, organizations must utilize a comprehensive security platform that integrates all these capabilities into one offering. Only then can the modern enterprise ensure all sensitive data is secure.