For all corporations, businesses, government programs and even individuals, data protection is fundamental to preserving integrity, profits and records. Without data security, people are at risk for identity fraud, theft, destruction of property and much worse. General data security seeks to protect an individual database or group of databases from unapproved access, tampering and destruction. This preserves individual rights and upholds many national and international laws, which strive to preserve the integrity and ownership of different databases. There are many different methods to establishing effective data protection, but all of them have to do with guarding important information on a computer or other technological storage unit.

One of the most popular methods for data protection includes ‘backing-up.’ Individuals that ‘back-up’ information will make a copy of all desired data, and put that copy in a separate place. Back-up data may be available on a portable hard drive, an internet source or an external back-up program (like Apple, Inc.’s Time Machine). By having a back-up, individuals know that even if their data is destroyed on the original database, the information is still safely stored in a separate location. This is, perhaps, the most dependable method of data security.

Other data security methods focus on the database’s hard drive. Individuals may encrypt the drive, which will establish a complicated code on the drive and make it nearly impossible for unauthorized users to access the content. Other security methods include tokens, which only allow users to access the database in a certain location or on a certain computer. Data can also be hidden or even completely erased, if files are found to be invaded or corrupted. These methods, however, have several downfalls and are not always as dependable; they are still subject to invasion by unauthorized users or threaten individuals with complete loss of data.

In today’s technology-dependent world, data security is absolutely necessary. Improved data security methods are constantly being developed to protect important databases, and it’s likely that data security will only rise in importance as our technology increases.