Data mining is widely used these days in this data-powered corporate world where AI is employed to extract patterns. Each pattern has a different insight to reveal. It can be related to trends, flaws, or gaps, etc. Basically, this process involves a number of sub-processes like data extraction to collect data, cleansing, processing, and analysing for pattern detection. Eventually, ideal patterns are extracted to fuel machine learning. Once tested, these patterns become artificial intelligence. Overall, each stage of data mining is crucial because of the data involved in it. As the data is sensitive, it is necessary to protect it from vulnerabilities. Cyber spies are all around, waiting for a weak point to enter and take away sensitive details for extortion or monetary benefits. Best Methods/Techniques to Secure Data During Mining The ever-growing nature of the technology domain makes it necessary to opt for the most effective and preventive methods for data security. Here come some of the most effective and advanced methods to keep security checks over this mining method: 1. Data Encryption Encryption refers to converting data into codes. It makes the data a mystery to understand. IT engineers use cryptographic algorithms to make text incomprehensive. This technique ensures that the data remain inaccessible if it is forcefully tried to access. Modern encryption techniques, such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman), are a household name for IT engineers who use them widely to secure data at rest and in transit. In addition, homomorphic encryption technology is pervasive these days. It enables authentic users to work on encrypted data without decrypting it. This practice reduces the hard work of decrypting data before working on it during mining. 2. Access Control and Authentication Do you appreciate if an unauthentic user gets easy exposure to such datasets that are likely to be models or patterns for machine learning? Certainly, you would do everything to prevent such attempts. This is where you need to define role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC). These are common security techniques to smartly barricade unauthorised access to specific datasets. For further security, a multi-factor authentication (MFA) technique can be used. It requires every user to verify through an SMS or email consisting of a password, biometrics, or one-time codes. This method really works well in restricting access to sensitive sets of data. 3. Anonymisation and Pseudonymization Anonymisation and pseudonymization-these are two famous techniques used to secure datasets during the mining process. With the anonymisation method, the sensitive personally identifiable information, or PII, is either removed or made unclear. This hack helps in making the traces back to individuals unrecognisable. On the other hand, the pseudonymization method is leveraged to replace identifiable information with pseudonyms. So, the authentic user can understand and harness it for analysis while maintaining privacy. These techniques prove valuable for industries like healthcare and finance, where the sensitive details are shared in abundance. 4. Secure Data Storage and Transmission Data mining involves a series of steps, which all include data from start to finish. So, cyber attackers keep an eye on the companies involved in this practice. As a proactive step, these companies invest in secure storage solutions. These are capable of encrypting databases in cloud storage while adding an extra layer of security features. The sharing of data is also protected by obtaining certificates like SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security), which ensure codifying your data during transmission. Additionally, some smart organisations never fail in regularly updating their systems and software. They actively focus on patch management to avoid hacking and cyber scams. 5. Data Minimisation and Retention Policies Data breaches can be minimised by adopting the policy of data minimization. Under this protocol, organisations collect only the necessary data for specific purposes like mining, AI generation, modelling, etc. By embracing this protocol, they do not store data longer than required. This practice automatically reduces the potential threat of its misuse. 6. Monitoring and Auditing Efficient IT managers or professionals infallibly monitor and audit data mining activities. This is simply because they know how sensitive these processes are. Many of them configure Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) so that suspicious activities cannot be fostered in real-time. As a proactive measure, the IT team focuses on regular audits of the access logs and mining processes. This monitoring helps in maintaining compliance with security policies. Furthermore, detecting vulnerabilities becomes way easier. 7. Ethical and Legal Compliance As being sensitive, it is necessary to guard data with ethical guidelines and legal regulations for securing data mining activities. European regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the DPDP Act of India, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States are imposed as standards to abide by for data privacy and security. So, it must be a priority for every organisation involved in mining practices to comply with them. They should adopt a consent-centric approach, which makes it mandatory to obtain consent from individuals who share their data. 8. Secure Data Mining Algorithms Sometimes, algorithms themselves become a threat. They can prove adverse and hence, may manipulate input data. It certainly impacts the result, which is obviously incorrect. To avoid these risks, organisations should follow a workflow, which must be secure. The algorithms that can resist such attacks must be placed there. Techniques like differential privacy are increasingly integrated into the mining of data processes. It makes data noisy at individual points while preserving overall patterns. 9. Employee Training and Awareness Manual errors can be destructive. They may cause breaches. So, the internal teams must be frequently trained. They should be a part of awareness programs so that the risk of accidental leaks of data or security breaches can be minimized. Additionally, employees should learn the best practices of how to handle data securely, what phishing attempts can be, and which security protocols must be followed. These steps will help in understanding data privacy, and hence, the potential consequences can be averted. 10. Collaboration with Cybersecurity...The post How to Keep Security Check Over Data Mining? appeared first on Research, Data & Technology - Blogs.
Eminenture is an India-based consulting firm that provides business process management, managed IT, digital marketing and related services for businesses.