The hazards of darkish information: How you can handle it and mitigate the dangers

A technique to have a look at darkish (or invisible) information is to consider all the on- and off-premises paper information, closet- and shelf-based information, and some other sort of knowledge that hasn’t been digitized, and that staff cannot readily entry. Regardless of current organizational efforts at digitization, there may be nonetheless an abundance of this hidden information floating round.

There’s additionally a broader, easier definition of darkish information: any information that you just don’t have prepared visibility of. This will embody digital data that you just may not pay attention to, reminiscent of instantaneous messages and video name transcripts, or some other content material that has not been centralized in a searchable information repository.

“Darkish information is information that’s not below administration, or on a company useful resource the place it may be found,” stated Brian Remmington, CTO at Hyland, which offers enterprise content material administration options. “As soon as found, darkish information is not darkish information.” 

SEE: Navigating information privateness (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

In the course of the COVID pandemic, many organizations have been working in extremely distributed and distant environments. This has boosted darkish information progress.

“Staff additionally use company-appointed laptops for all the pieces from video calls to sharing paperwork and accessing e mail,” Remmington stated. “This creates an extreme quantity of darkish information that looms in firm storage. As well as, staff might copy centralized content material to their native laptops and never add it after altering it.”

Remmington believes that the issue with the rising quantity of darkish information will all the time be managing it and ensuring it is revisited and leveraged appropriately for enterprise intelligence and governance functions. Moreover, when staff depart the enterprise, enterprises threat a lack of mental property or company reminiscence by lacking darkish information.

How critical is the chance of not managing darkish information?

First, not having your darkish information below administration can create authorized, safety and compliance dangers. What if your organization is in a lawsuit and should get to this information as a part of the authorized discovery course of?

Second, not accessing darkish information can lead key choice makers into making the incorrect choices for the group.

Third, vital waste may end up. This waste comes within the type of misplaced worker productiveness as a result of it’s going to take them longer to seek for and procure the data they want. Storage prices additionally enhance, as a result of storing information with out utilizing it’s wasteful.

Fourth, the darkish information downside contributes to enterprise information silos. “The primary goal must be discovering darkish information in order that it may be categorized and managed appropriately, and doubtlessly analyzed for enterprise intelligence,” Remmington stated. “One of many key issues to look at is how every silo of darkish information got here to be that approach, and to establish processes and tooling that may assist stop it from occurring sooner or later.”

One proactive method that firms can use to cut back darkish information is to create information safekeeping insurance policies for workers and prepare and retrain staff on these insurance policies.

SEE: Digital information retention coverage (TechRepublic Premium)

Audits can be performed to make sure that information (and information adjustments) are synchronized between particular person work stations and central information repositories.

Each of those steps can assist to get rid of the “darkish holes” in enterprise data that darkish information creates.

“It is going to be some time earlier than darkish information disappears,” Remmington acknowledged. “However within the meantime, organizations ought to do their finest to sort out their information being created in actual time as they work by backlogs of information. In the long term, this may assist companies attain their targets.”

Cybersecurity Insider Publication

Strengthen your group’s IT safety defenses by maintaining abreast of the newest cybersecurity information, options, and finest practices.
Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays

Join as we speak

See additionally