What should an organization do to ensure data integrity during access?

What should an organization do to ensure data integrity during access?

• A. Encrypt all stored data.
• B. Restrict access based on user roles.
• C. Regularly back up data to multiple locations.
• D. Implement a logging system for all data access.

Answer: (B)

Restricting access based on user roles is a fundamental practice for ensuring data integrity during access because it ensures that only authorized personnel can view or modify sensitive data. By implementing role-based access controls (RBAC), an organization can align access permissions with job responsibilities, minimizing the risk of unauthorized changes or data breaches. This control mechanism helps prevent accidental or malicious tampering with data, thus maintaining its accuracy and reliability over time. In this context, user roles can be defined according to the principle of least privilege, where users are given the minimum level of access necessary to perform their job functions. This approach not only protects data integrity but also streamlines compliance with regulatory requirements related to data protection. While encrypting all stored data, regularly backing up data, and implementing a logging system for all data access are all important strategies in a data protection framework, they serve slightly different purposes. Encryption focuses on protecting data confidentiality, backups are crucial for disaster recovery, and logging aids in auditing and monitoring access but may not directly enforce integrity during access. Hence, restricting access based on user roles stands out as the optimal choice to directly ensure data integrity during access.

Restricting access based on user roles is a fundamental practice for ensuring data integrity during access because it ensures that only authorized personnel can view or modify sensitive data. By implementing role-based access controls (RBAC), an organization can align access permissions with job responsibilities, minimizing the risk of unauthorized changes or data breaches. This control mechanism helps prevent accidental or malicious tampering with data, thus maintaining its accuracy and reliability over time.

In this context, user roles can be defined according to the principle of least privilege, where users are given the minimum level of access necessary to perform their job functions. This approach not only protects data integrity but also streamlines compliance with regulatory requirements related to data protection.

While encrypting all stored data, regularly backing up data, and implementing a logging system for all data access are all important strategies in a data protection framework, they serve slightly different purposes. Encryption focuses on protecting data confidentiality, backups are crucial for disaster recovery, and logging aids in auditing and monitoring access but may not directly enforce integrity during access. Hence, restricting access based on user roles stands out as the optimal choice to directly ensure data integrity during access.