Which method is recommended for protecting data at rest?

Protecting data at rest is crucial for maintaining confidentiality and integrity, especially given the rise in data breaches and cyber threats. The recommended method involves a combination of encryption and physical security.

Encryption ensures that the data is transformed into a format that is unreadable without the appropriate decryption key. This means that even if unauthorized individuals gain access to the storage devices, they cannot interpret the data without the key. This is vital for protecting sensitive information such as personal identification information, financial records, and intellectual property.

In addition to encryption, physical security measures are essential to safeguard the hardware where data is stored. This includes securing data centers with surveillance, access controls, environmental controls (like temperature and humidity management), and locks to prevent unauthorized physical access. Without these protections, even encrypted data can be at risk if hardware is improperly secured.

While regular backups, access controls and monitoring, and data masking are important aspects of data security, they serve different purposes. Backups are crucial for disaster recovery; access controls help restrict who can view or manipulate data; and data masking is often used to protect sensitive information during development or testing but does not directly secure the data at rest itself. Therefore, focusing on encryption along with strong physical security provides comprehensive protection for data at rest.