Episode 42 - Encryption: When Data Privacy Best Practices Are Not

Encryption is often thought of as the basic and best cybersecurity approach to protecting data in transit or in flight. As guest Ken Morris, CEO and founder of KnectIQ, argues, it’s not. Encrypting data is an essential practice, but it’s really not the problem or the solution. Instead, any organization must consider its keys. Best practices in cybersecurity in 2019 require new technologies that address the role of and threats to keys. Once a hacker gets access to a key, the data are there to be taken, even without the data controller or processor knowing that the thief has entered the storeroom. As the day of quantum computing approaches, it will become ever more certain that encryption alone is inadequate to protect data in flight. This is becoming known to the authorities. And that is not an idle thought. Article 32 of the EU’s Global Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, forces possessors of personal data to consider the “state of the art” in deploying systems to protect personal data. And the increased sophistication of corporate espionage demands new thinking on how to prevent data break-ins. This podcast is a primer on how to think differently about cybersecurity and how the best practices of yesterday are no longer those of today. If you have ideas for more interviews or stories, please email [email protected].