What’s the balance between data governance and data stewardship?

Lance Fischer, Principal Security Architect at Guidepoint Security, joins the show today and dives into the complexities of data security, highlighting the differences between data governance and data stewardship. He emphasizes the significance of visibility and collaboration among stakeholders in maintaining robust data security frameworks. Lance shares insights from his extensive career, revealing the practical challenges and strategies in improving data security through governance, tool rationalization, and pragmatic approaches. The discussion also touches on the evolving landscape of AI, APIs, and the critical importance of securing sensitive data. This episode provides a comprehensive look into the foundational aspects of data security and offers practical advice for organizations to enhance their data protection efforts.

Takeaways:

• Prioritize Visibility First: Before implementing controls or buying tools, ensure you have a clear understanding of what data you have, where it resides, and how it flows within your organization.
• Clarify Data Governance vs. Data Stewardship: Define clear roles. Governance sets the policies and rules; stewardship ensures those rules are applied consistently. Foster communication and cooperation between these groups.
• Start Small and Scale: Don’t try to solve everything at once. Tackle visibility and controls in manageable pieces. Focus on a subset of data or a specific business unit to build momentum.
• Engage Stakeholders Across the Business: Involve HR, Legal, IT, and business units early to ensure policies are practical and have buy-in. Encourage open dialogue rather than top-down mandates.
• Understand and Plan for Resource Needs: Assess the people, time, and budget required for data security initiatives before launching. Avoid overburdening staff with too many roles; dedicate resources where possible.
• Document Decisions and Processes: Track inputs and outputs from governance meetings and policy changes for audit and continuous improvement.
• Anticipate and Manage Tool Sprawl: Regularly review existing tools for effectiveness and eliminate redundant or unused solutions. Don’t assume swapping tools will solve underlying process or visibility issues.

Quote of the Show:

• “What we're talking about here is not visibility, just from putting in a DLP tool. We're also talking about business: having those conversations between real humans to get a sense for what's going on.” - Lance Fischer

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lance-fischer-a0301219/
• Website: https://www.guidepointsecurity.com/

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