The more data you have, the more potential there is for problems. Just as your data can be valuable to your company for insights and guidance, it can also be useful for data thieves looking for a quick payday. However, with good data governance driven by automation, you can reduce your risk and reap the rewards. Aparavi helps you do this in three easy steps, Reveal, Comprehend, and Classify.
Reveal: You Need to Know What You’ve Got
You can’t engage in data risk management if you don’t know that risk exists. Given that more than half of enterprise data is considered dark data, meaning it’s unknown or completely unutilized, it’s almost certain that your organization is loaded with data you’ve never even seen.
The Risks
Dark data presents several risks. When your company is hit by a data breach, you need to know exactly what data could have been accessed or stolen. If you have an abundance of dark data, your audit will remain clouded by uncertainty. (Learn more about dark data here)
If personal information or sensitive files were hidden in that darkness, then your business could be held liable by regulators or impacted from a competitive perspective. You need to know where your data is at all times.
The Solution
Aparavi reveals all of the data on your file system in an instant. It scans for files, even hidden files or temporary files that may slip through the cracks of your typical operating system search tool. You’ll get a useful breakdown of where your files are stored, and you can unearth data that has long been buried in the darkest corners of your organization.
Comprehend: Get to Know Your Data
Once your data has been revealed, you can begin to understand what’s in each file and the risks they may present. A good data governance tool goes beyond just listing files by size and type. True data management platforms actually read the data inside the files and give you a better understanding of their contents.
The Risks
You can reduce risk significantly by having a clear picture of what your files contain. Can you protect your most valuable data from prying eyes? Do you know which files ought to be deleted because they’re no longer useful and pose nothing but risk, with zero reward?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you don’t want to throw away a file that might contain useful data. Comprehension is key to making sure a genuine gold data nugget doesn’t end up in the landfill.
The Solution
Aparavi does more than just find your files. It reads them, looking for phrases and structures that identify the contents of your files. If you’re searching for a particular key word or phrase, Aparavi can dig through all of your data and find any occurrence of those markers.
With its intelligent design, it can recognize files that could be important for your business, while recommending others for the recycle bin.
Classify: The Key to Data Governance
Finding your data and understanding it makes this third step possible, and it’s one of the most important steps for securing your data and deriving useful insights from it in the future. Classification means your data is tagged and categorized so that you can quickly filter and search for data using a myriad of criteria.
The Risks
You might think that classification has little to do with reducing risk, but in fact it’s one of the most important steps in the risk reduction process. When your data is properly classified, you can apply security restrictions to any data that meets your specific criteria.
Without classification, you’d need to apply restrictions to folders or files manually. What if you miss a file? What if you forget about a folder? Classification automates this process and removes human error from the equation. It also makes it easy to see what protocols have been applied to your files so that you can make adjustments as needed.
The Solution
Aparavi’s classification tools are unparalleled. You can create custom tags for files or use our premade protocols for data privacy laws like the GDPR or CCPA. Multiple classifications can overlap, allowing for advanced data management. Any new files that enter your system will automatically go through the reveal, comprehend, and classify process.
More organizations are switching to intelligent, automated data management with Aparavi. Yours can too. Just head over to our website to schedule a free demonstration of the platform. Reduce your risk and secure your data with Aparavi.