Data security refers to protective digital privacy measures that are applied to prevent unauthorized access to computers, databases and websites. Data security also protects data from corruption. Data security is an essential aspect of IT for organizations of every size and type.
Data security is also known as information security (IS) or computer security.
Examples of data security technologies include backups, data masking and data erasure. A key data security technology measure is encryption, where digital data, software/hardware, and hard drives are encrypted and therefore rendered unreadable to unauthorized users and hackers.
One of the most commonly encountered methods of practicing data security is the use of authentication. With authentication, users must provide a password, code, biometric data, or some other form of data to verify identity before access to a system or data is granted.