Chapter 22 — Data security for governance
Lesson map
Lesson 22 published. Map, example, EX064.
flowchart TD
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["22.1 Three properties"]
N2["22.2 Access by role"]
N3["22.3 Security incidents"]
N4["22.4 Ownership and security"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
EX --> Q["Exercise EX064"]
Logical drawing
flowchart LR
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["22.1 Three properties"]
N2["22.2 Access by role"]
N3["22.3 Security incidents"]
N4["22.4 Ownership and security"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX064"]
[Learning outcomes]
|
v
[22.1 Three properties]
|
v
[22.2 Access by role]
|
v
[22.3 Security incidents]
|
v
[22.4 Ownership and security]
|
v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX064]
Learning outcomes
You will (1) apply confidentiality, integrity and availability to data; (2) design access by role; (3) connect security with ownership.
22.1 Three properties
Amara studies the classic security properties. Confidentiality keeps data from people who should not see them, such as member addresses. Integrity keeps data accurate and protected from unauthorised change, such as prices. Availability keeps data usable when needed, such as till systems during busy periods. Different data need different emphasis. She notes that governance helps decide which property matters most for each data set, so that security teams can apply suitable protections. Amara records the main property for each data set in the catalogue so security staff can see it.
22.2 Access by role
Amara reviews access to the loyalty database and finds that all head office staff can view full member details. She proposes role-based access: marketing analysts see purchase patterns with names removed, customer service sees full details for members they are helping and the data team sees everything for maintenance with access logged. The loyalty owner approves each role. She explains that access should follow need, a principle often called least privilege, and that owners decide it. The new roles take effect within a month.
22.3 Security incidents
A staff member emails a spreadsheet of member addresses to a personal account to work from home. Amara helps the data protection officer assess the incident. The data included names and addresses for one store's members. The officer decides whether notification is required under the GDPR. Amara notes that the incident happened because staff lacked an approved way to work remotely and because extracts with personal data were easy to create without approval. Amara recommends an approved remote working route and an extract request process.
22.4 Ownership and security
Amara explains that security teams provide controls, but owners decide who should have access and what classification data carry. At Harbourline, security staff had been making access decisions without knowing the data. She proposes that owners approve access requests and review access lists every quarter, while security teams implement and monitor controls. Dr. Lindqvist notes that this division lets each group do what it knows best, which improves both governance and security. The first quarterly review removes access for eleven staff who had changed jobs.
Worked example
Amara applies security properties to Harbourline data, restricts loyalty access by role, helps assess an emailed address spreadsheet and assigns access decisions to owners with quarterly reviews.
Synthetic case. The incident is synthetic; the GDPR is real.
Errors and limits
Security teams deciding access without knowing data leads to poor choices.
Exercises
- EX064 — Access finding. What did Amara find about loyalty access? Rubric: 3 = all head office staff could see full details;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
- EX065 — Incident cause. Why did the emailed spreadsheet incident happen? Rubric: 3 = no approved remote working route and easy extracts;; 2 = both;; 1 = one;; 0 = none.
- EX066 — Access review. How often do owners review access lists? Rubric: 3 = quarterly;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = wrong;; 0 = none.
Continue studying — lesson 22 (chapter 22 of 40)
← Chapter 21 · Course chapter index · Chapter 23 →
Continue to the next authored lesson.