Protect Big Data: 3 steps to enhance your data security

Asia-Pacific (APAC) enterprises are storing and analysing growing volumes of data – foreshadowing an increasing likelihood of destructive breaches.

46% of Singaporeans share more personal data now compared to two years ago, exceeding the global average of 33%.¹ At the same time, APAC accounted for 31% of the data breaches in 2022 worldwide – the highest number across global regions and up from 26% the previous year.²

Indeed, the region was a hotbed for high-profile cyber attacks in 2022 and early 2023, particularly affecting the banking, healthcare, and tech industries.³

APAC consumers expect their personal information to be kept safe and confidential, and any data breach can trigger a widespread loss of trust among customers. Many APAC consumers now feel forced to share personal information, even as they testify to a growing mistrust in digital services.¹ Notably, 50% of users say they are not comfortable with having their data collected.⁴

Further, 37% of Asian respondents say their trust in digital services providers' efforts to protect their data has decreased over the past five years.¹ Half of Singaporeans and Australians also admit to moving away from companies that have suffered a data breach, a higher figure than the global average of 43%.¹

With the increasing shift to cloud storage, businesses must prioritise data protection to avoid data loss, financial losses, legal issues, reputational damage, and regulatory non-compliance.⁵

This refers to the creation of misleading or inaccurate data. Attackers deceive or manipulate systems by altering algorithms or fabricating data and reviews. This can lead to flawed insights, compromised data integrity, and misguided decisions.⁷

Data cleansing removes inconsistencies and irrelevant information from data to improve its quality and reliability.⁵ Attackers can exploit data cleansing failures by manipulating the cleaning tools or algorithms, leading to the introduction of malicious or erroneous data into the system.

This technique separates sensitive or confidential information from the actual data to protect customer privacy and prevent unauthorised access. Hackers can exploit flaws in the data masking process to reconstruct the original data and gain access to confidential information.⁷

Attackers manipulate the training data used by machine learning models, specifically chatbots. Attackers can disrupt the machine learning model's functioning by injecting false or malicious information into the training data.

Data poisoning undermines the integrity and effectiveness of machine learning models, potentially causing severe consequences for enterprises relying on data-driven processes.⁵

These are mistakes or negligent acts by employees that compromise data security. Employee errors can include accidentally sharing sensitive information, ignoring security alerts, or losing devices containing valuable information, leading to data loss and unauthorised access.⁷

APAC organisations are entering an era marked by hyperconnectivity, where data exchange is constant and unending. They need to prioritise implementing security measures for all data analysis stages – from data sourcing to storage and output creation.⁵

Here are three steps that your company can take toward fortifying your Big Data analytics:

Run end-to-end testing to identify known and unknown data security threats. You can do this easily on a single platform with help from Singtel’s global team, who conducts penetration testing and managed security testing. The team quickly identifies vulnerabilities, customises a security plan, and provides all the findings and reports in one place.

Your cyber security solution must be able to detect and combat threats before they wreak havoc on your analytics processes. You can adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies for cyber risk management to identify threats and anomalies, predict attacks accurately, and enhance situational awareness.

You can do this with an expert partner like Singtel – our cyber security capabilities include 24x7 real-time data monitoring, network-centric managed security services, and proactive cyber threat protection and response, among others.

Whether data is in physical data centres or the cloud, install services that can protect your stored data. To this end, Singtel is licensed to provide Managed Security Services (MSS), which include Endpoint/Mobile Defence Services, Data Centre Security Services, and Cloud Security Services.

Let’s chat about hardening the cybersecurity of your Big Data analytics processes.