Safeguarding Your Data in 2025: Best Practices for Organizations and Individuals

Data is the most valuable—and vulnerable—asset in today’s digital landscape. Whether you’re protecting constituent records, donor databases, or internal documents, data security should be a top priority in 2025. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting small and midsize organizations with ransomware, credential theft, and insider threats.

Without proactive safeguards, the risks include financial loss, reputational damage, legal exposure, and regulatory fines.

Why Data Security Is More Critical Than Ever

According to IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach report, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million—a 10% increase over the previous year and the highest total ever (https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach).

Key Strategies to Protect Your Data

1. Classify and Prioritize Your Data

Not all data is created equal. Start by identifying your most sensitive and mission-critical data (e.g., customer PII, health records, financial information). Use data classification tools to label and protect it accordingly. Varonis provides insights into data classification processes (https://www.varonis.com/blog/data-classification).

2. Encrypt Everything

Use full-disk encryption on all endpoints and encrypt sensitive files at rest and in transit using strong standards (e.g., AES-256, TLS 1.3). Many cloud providers offer customer-managed encryption keys for enhanced control.

3. Implement Strong Access Controls

Apply the principle of least privilege. Only give users access to the data they need, and use role-based access controls (RBAC). Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) across systems to prevent account takeover.

4. Regular Backups and Offline Storage

Use automated backup systems to protect critical data and test restores regularly. Keep at least one backup offline or in immutable storage to defend against ransomware.

5. Monitor for Data Leakage

Deploy data loss prevention (DLP) tools to detect unauthorized sharing or transmission of sensitive data via email, cloud storage, or USB devices. Digital Guardian provides comprehensive DLP solutions (https://www.digitalguardian.com/solutions/data-loss-prevention).

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

Data protection is an ongoing process. Security is not just about firewalls—it’s about knowing where your data is, who can access it, and how it’s protected.

Wentz IT Consulting helps clients build robust data protection frameworks aligned with NIST and CMMC standards. We provide audits, classification workshops, and turnkey DLP solutions tailored to your environment.