In an increasingly connected world, Big Data has become a part of everyday life. However, this information-rich resource has come under increasing threat from cyber-criminals as they seek to cause business disruption or gain financially from breaching data networks.
The Importance of Encrypting Big Data
The term Big Data describes the exponential growth in the collection, sharing, analytics and storage of multi-source information.
A powerful information management concept that is applied to the number of large data sets found in every industry sector, Big Data relies heavily upon the high-speed data networks that transmit it.
Organisations that invest in Big Data will naturally seek to maximise its value, which frequently involves the transmission of large volumes of information-rich data.
The rewards of large-scale data sharing, however, come at a cost; as organisations are exposed to new data security risks.
“If they do it right, advanced attackers can quietly infiltrate a network and steal data or information at will for months, or even years.” (Trustwave, Inside a Hacker’s Playbook)
Despite efforts to protect the data networks, the optimal solution is to protect the data itself – by encrypting it. Encryption renders data meaningless in the hands of unauthorised parties in the event of a successful breach.
Big Data Needs Big Data Encryption
Breaches of unprotected Big Data expose organisations to a variety of risks; including: theft of valuable intellectual property, substantial financial penalties, loss of reputation and devastating damage to the data itself.
Big Data is driving the growth and expansion of high-speed data networks – enabling the sharing, analytics, remote storage and use of that data.
Cloud computing often plays an important role in the collection and analytics of Big Data, again requiring high-performance high-speed data networks.
But by its very nature Big Data is sensitive. The multiple layers of correlated information – customer, financial, identity, research, supplier, product, services and a vast range of other data – must be protected against successful unauthorised access and data network breaches.
Data Networks Are Not Safe!
Data networks are not inherently safe. More than half of all data theft occurs while the data is being transmitted across the high-speed networks that we have become so dependent upon.
The exponential growth in Big Data has been followed by increased risks of data breaches, as Big Data offers cyber-criminals and other unauthorised parties potentially high rewards.
Protecting Big Data while it is in transit has been a challenge to most organisations due to its very size and volumes; especially as they attempt to maximise data transmission efficiency and minimise impediments.
The past few years has proved that data breaches are inevitable. The optimal data protection is to ensure that when it falls into unauthorised hands, it is meaningless. Senetas high-assurance encryption provides that protection.
Senetas’ leading high-speed data encryptors provide Big Data the assurance of the best line of defence without loss of network performance.
Senetas Layer 2 Network Data Encryption
The typical use of Layer 3 data networks for the transmission of Big Data comes with built-in network performance impediments; at a bandwidth speed cost of 50% to 70%.
However, the use of Layer 2 networks, with their inherently simpler characteristics and cost efficiencies, enable the advantage of Senetas’ leading high-assurance encryptors without network performance compromise.
Only Senetas’ high-assurance data encryption provides multi-certified data network protection and “set and forget” simplicity without a loss of network performance.
Senetas encryptors ensure that data protection need not come at the significant cost of lost bandwidth and network performance – so critical in Big Data applications.*
Because Big Data applications rely heavily upon uninterrupted data flows and processing, organisations can be assured that protection of the data in transit comes with the dependability of 99.999% up-time availability.
Similarly, commercial and government organisations implementing secure dedicated, everywhere anytime Cloud computing applications that use and generate Big Data, have peace of mind that Senetas encryptors are providing a defence-grade last line of defence – without compromise.
*Senetas Layer 2 encryption performance versus conventional encrypted Layer 3 network performance.
