As companies continue to place a greater emphasis on sharing and analyzing enterprise information, employees at all levels of the organization are starting to assume data management responsibilities. Unfortunately, this push for fluid communication and strategic interpretation has taken sensitive assets off the grid and into trouble. To remedy this situation, IT managers must act quickly to identify potential blind spots and deploy appropriate data security solutions.

Leaky channels
Despite the focus in protecting sensitive data following a year marred by high-profile breaches, essential information is still slipping through the cracks within many organizations. At the most basic level, according to CSO Online, IT teams are losing comprehensive control of financial and human resource spreadsheets. With no internal mandate for a singular method of secure data exchange, employees are trafficking these assets across risky terrain via personal email, file sharing and collaboration suites. Data is also being carried away on unencrypted USB drives, misplaced or stolen devices and, increasingly, employee-owned smartphones and tablets which lack appropriate controls.

Even when files remain inside the enterprise ecosystem, losing track of its exact location can compromise everything from everyday productivity to data compliance standing. According to CSO, SharePoint platforms and development environments have become increasingly popular hiding places for business data. As a result, administrators must be careful to ensure they are not ceding fundamental data governance principles in the quest to enhance functionality.

Secure from the start
Although the ways companies leverage their internal data will always be evolving, security best practices have remained relatively unchanged.

By establishing control over one's network perimeter, IT teams can ensure that misplaced or forgotten data does not become a security pain point. According to Healthcare Finance News, strong and consistent identify and access control mechanisms are the fundamental building blocks no organization can do without. Two-factor authentication protocols and "identity-as-a-service" are moving the conversation forward, but the chosen technology must always align with the rule of least privilege.

Even well-regulated perimeters can be breached, though, as companies have come to see in recent months. As a result, IT teams would be wise to drill down to the surface and protect data before it ever goes on the move. By encasing files inside a secure container via data encryption software, managers can retain tighter control over access privileges and ensure that unauthorized viewers cannot crack defenses and walk away with sensitive intelligence.