Data classificationis afundamental security practiceused toprotect sensitive informationbased onrisk, confidentiality, integrity, and regulatory requirements.
Key Factors in Data Classification:
Data Sensitivity:
Organizations classify data based onhow sensitive it is:
Public(e.g., marketing material).
Internal Use Only(e.g., business plans).
Confidential(e.g., financial reports).
Restricted/Highly Confidential(e.g., personal healthcare records, credit card details).
Compliance & Legal Requirements:
Certain data types have strict compliance laws:
PII (Personally Identifiable Information) → GDPR, CCPA
Financial Data → PCI DSS
Healthcare Data → HIPAA
Cloud providers must ensure security policies align with compliance frameworks.
Impact on Security Controls:
Highly sensitive data requires encryption at rest and in transit.
Access control must be enforced with least privilege and IAM policies.
Risk Management:
Properdata classification helps organizations define security policiessuch as:
Retention policies(How long data should be stored?).
Backup and disaster recovery strategies.
This is outlined in:
CCSK v5 - Security Guidance v4.0, Domain 11 (Data Security and Encryption)
Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) - Data Security and Data Classification Standards
