Information lifecycle protection is a way to align IT strategies with business growth using a holistic framework. SafeNet's information protection solutions provide persistent protection of information at critical points in its lifecycle, wherever and however that information gets used.
Information lifecycle protection combines encryption, access policies, key management, content security, and authentication, which allows organizations to protect identities, transactions, data, and communications. Because this same framework can be used for multiple applications, access points, and data types across the enterprise, organizations can increase operational efficiency while ensuring privacy, managing risk, and achieving regulatory compliance.
The Four Categories of the Information Lifecycle
Identities
Information feeds into the organization from both individuals and applications. In addition, many organizations’ business applications create sensitive data. This could include a card issuer application automatically generating a credit card PIN or a healthcare provider generating patient identifiers.
Transactions
Next, the business transforms and utilizes this data. Fundamentally, business systems and processes take discrete data elements (sometimes called structured data) and conduct transactions with this information, potentially involving multiple subsystems, in ways that add value to the organization. This information is ultimately transmitted into the form factors and consumption points needed by the rest of the business.
Data
As data progresses throughout its lifecycle, information ends up being created, shared, and stored in a number of locations: Individual PCs, application and database servers, file shares, storage area networks, tape drives, etc.
Communication
To make use of data, disparate systems need to communicate with each other. This can include the transmission of information across a complex mix of private, public, and semi-private networks. For years, this has been an area of clear security focus, as it was the one area that crossed perimeter and trust boundaries.