As the environment and industry becomes increasingly data driven, data encryption and data security become top of mind among most IT administrators.  

There are many data security options available, but if the organization does not choose the proper security solution they can become part of a growing list of companies that have experienced a data breach. This not only affects their brand, but it also affects the consumers. For example, in recent news, the massive Anthem data breach has affected 80 million customers because they did not choose the proper security solution. According to WinMagic’s VP of Technology, Garry McCracken, “Companies must learn that if they want to avoid a crisis of this magnitude from ever occurring, they must enhance their overall security posture and encryption plays an important part in doing so.”

So how can you tell if your organization is using the proper security solution? To assist in determining this WinMagic has developed a security maturity scale that identifies 5 levels of data protection that organizations can find themselves in:

1. Unaware level – no security for your data.
2. Tactical level – a lack of control since each device has to be managed individually.
3. Defined level – includes select laptops and possibly mobile devices and removable media that are all centrally managed.
4. Managed level – most devices are encrypted and are centrally managed providing administrators the granularity of control without hindering the end user
5. Optimized level – the organization will take complete control of all devices and be able to encrypt data in the cloud or wherever it resides.

There is no quick solution. It’s an evolution that companies must work through to fully optimize their data security strategies while reducing IT costs. WinMagic possesses the industry expertise to help customers determine their current and desired state on the security Maturity Model to ensure it is the best fit for their business.