The art of balancing data security with business goals

In this Help Net Security video, Nathan Parks, Senior Research Specialist at Gartner, discusses their recent research, revealing that only 14% of security leaders effectively balance data security with business goals.

35% of leaders are focused on securing data, while 21% prioritize using data for business objectives. Only one in seven organizations can do both effectively, risking increased vulnerability to cyber threats and operational inefficiencies.

Gartner recommends that security and risk management leaders take five actions to align business needs to data security and achieve data protection and business enablement goals.

• Reduce governance-related friction for the business by using a well-established process to co-create data security polices and standards with end users and by inviting their feedback.
• Align data-security-related governance efforts by partnering with other internal functions to identify overlaps and synergies.
• Delineate non-negotiable security requirements that must be met by the business when handling previously unknown data security risks.
• Define high-level guardrails around GenAI-related decisions (e.g., when to pause or stop a GenAI tool or feature) that allow business experimentation within set parameters.
• Work jointly with data and analytics (D&A) teams to secure top-down buy-in on data security initiatives.