Reliability of Data Protection
Data protection reliability is the process that ensures the accuracy, completeness and secure throughout its lifecycle, from the moment of creation until the point of archival or deletion. This means securing against unauthorised access to data, data corruption, and errors by implementing robust security measures, regular audits, and checksum verifications. Data reliability is essential to make informed and confident choices, providing organizations with the ability to use data to improve business results.
The accuracy of data can be impacted by a variety of factors, such as:
Data Source Credibility. A dataset’s reliability and credibility are heavily dependent on its provenance. Credible sources are those with a an established track record of providing reliable data. They can be verified by peer reviews, expert validations or industry standards.
Human errors Recording and data entry mistakes can introduce errors into an information set, reducing its reliability. Standardized processes and training are crucial to avoiding these mistakes.
Backup and Storage: A backup strategy, such as the 3-2-1 method (3 copies on two devices local and one offsite) can reduce data loss caused by natural disasters or hardware malfunctions. Physical integrity is another consideration, with organisations leveraging several technology vendors having to ensure that the physical integrity of their data across all systems can be maintained and protected.
Reliability is a complex topic. The most important thing is that a business uses trustworthy and reliable data to make the right decisions and create value. To achieve this, companies need to create an environment of trust in data and ensure that their processes are designed to produce reliable results. This means adopting standardized methodologies, training data collectors and providing reliable tools.