For a business, the strongest data-security program is a set of connected controls: know which data and systems matter, limit who can reach them, reduce exposure, protect stored and moving data, and prove that recovery works. The ten practices below reflect CISA, NIST, and Verizon guidance published in 2025. Apply them according to your organization’s risks, data sensitivity, regulatory duties, and resources.
What should a business prioritize first?
Start with the basics that reduce common paths to compromise: least-privilege access, strong authentication, and timely software updates. Verizon Business’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report page says about 88% of breaches in its basic web-application attack pattern involved stolen credentials. That is a pattern-specific statistic, not a share of all breaches, but it underscores why credential protection deserves early attention.
For ransomware resilience, prioritize offline or disconnected backups and test restoration. For lost or stolen equipment, encryption helps protect the confidentiality of data on devices and media. No single measure guarantees prevention; the controls work best together.
Top 10 data security best practices
1. Inventory and classify data, systems, and dependencies
You cannot protect or restore assets you do not know exist. Maintain an organization-wide inventory of data, software, hardware, services, and dependencies. Identify which assets are critical to safety, revenue, or essential services, then prioritize safeguards and recovery around them. CISA’s StopRansomware Guide emphasizes both logical assets, such as data and software, and physical assets, such as hardware.
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- Record where sensitive data is stored and which systems and services depend on it.
- Identify the assets whose loss or unavailability would have the greatest impact.
- Use that criticality to guide access restrictions, monitoring, and restoration priorities.
2. Enforce least privilege and role-based access control
Give each employee, administrator, and service account only the permissions required for its work. Remove unnecessary accounts and permissions, review access regularly, and use role-based access control (RBAC) for infrastructure administration. CISA’s cybersecurity performance goals and StopRansomware guidance both support limiting access to what is needed.
Access reviews should include service accounts and former or changed roles, not just current employees. Keep administrative access separate from routine work where your systems allow it, and make responsibility for approving and removing access clear.
3. Require phishing-resistant multifactor authentication
Require multifactor authentication (MFA) for accounts that access company systems, networks, and applications. CISA recommends phishing-resistant MFA using hardware-based public key infrastructure (PKI) or FIDO authentication. A FIDO security key is one possible implementation; check that it works with your identity provider and that you have a secure recovery process before rolling it out.
NIST Special Publication 800-63 Revision 4, released in July 2025, updates guidance on identity proofing, authentication, federation, fraud, risk management, and continuous evaluation. MFA reduces reliance on passwords alone, but it should be combined with access controls and monitoring.
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4. Reduce internet exposure and patch promptly
Find systems that are reachable from the internet, then remove exposure that is not necessary and remediate weaknesses. CISA’s June 4, 2025 Internet Exposure Reduction Guidance warns that misconfigurations, default credentials, and outdated software can leave systems publicly accessible. Maintain a process for discovering exposed assets and assigning responsibility for fixes.
Prioritize updates based on risk and exposure, including known exploited vulnerabilities. CISA and the FBI’s January 17, 2025 product-security update also urges manufacturers to prioritize security throughout product development; organizations buying or operating technology should consider whether vendors address known security weaknesses and provide timely remediation.
5. Encrypt data at rest and in transit
Encrypt computers, mobile devices, hard drives, removable media, and files that contain sensitive information. Encryption can protect confidentiality when a device or medium is lost, stolen, or accessed without authorization. For network traffic, CISA guidance recommends TLS 1.3 where supported and strong cipher suites, with managed certificates and a process for renewal.
Before enabling encryption, make sure recovery keys and passwords are stored securely and can be retrieved by authorized people when needed. Encryption helps protect data, but it does not replace access controls or prevent every form of unauthorized access.
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6. Keep tested, disconnected, ransomware-resilient backups
Maintain frequent backups using a secure external hard drive or a properly vetted cloud service. CISA recommends storing external drives securely and disconnecting them when they are not actively backing up, so ransomware cannot reach them through a connected system. Keep offline backups and set restoration priorities according to asset criticality, as the StopRansomware Guide advises.
- Protect backup access with appropriate permissions and authentication.
- Disconnect external media between backup tasks and store it securely.
- Test restoration, not just backup completion, and confirm that priority data can be recovered.
7. Harden configurations and address software supply-chain risk
Use secure defaults, eliminate default credentials, and disable unnecessary discovery and remote-access services. Check configurations as systems change so an initially safe setup does not become exposed through later exceptions or misconfiguration.
Consider vendors’ security practices as part of managing the software supply chain. CISA and FBI’s 2025 update provides additional context on memory-safe languages and timelines for patching Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. The relevant response depends on the product and your environment; do not assume a vendor’s software is secure simply because it is widely used.
8. Centralize protected logs and monitor continuously
Collect authentication, authorization, and accounting logs centrally, and protect them against unauthorized disclosure or alteration. CISA recommends sending these logs securely to a centralized logging server with confidentiality, integrity, and authentication protections.
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Use monitoring to look for unusual account, endpoint, and network behavior. Decide who reviews alerts, how urgent findings are escalated, and how those findings feed into incident response. Logging is useful only if the records are protected, available, and acted upon.
9. Exercise incident response and recovery
Write an incident-response plan and practice using it. Verizon’s 2025 DBIR page identifies regular security testing and an incident-response plan among steps that can reduce breach risk. NIST Special Publication 800-61 Revision 3, finalized April 3, 2025, integrates incident response with Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 risk management.
Exercises should clarify who makes decisions, who communicates with affected parties, and how teams restore priority systems. Include the people responsible for security, IT operations, business functions, and recovery. Use exercise findings to update the plan and address gaps.
10. Use zero-trust access and train people
Zero trust is an architecture and operating model for evaluating access across distributed resources, not a single product. NIST Special Publication 1800-35, published in June 2025, documents 19 example implementations for distributed on-premises and cloud resources and maps technologies to standards. Use the examples as implementation context, not as a one-size-fits-all design.
Pair technical controls with phishing awareness and regular exercises. Verizon identifies employee training and testing as defensive measures. Training should support the security controls employees use, while clear reporting routes make it easier to raise a concern quickly.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to make these practices work together
Use your asset inventory to decide what needs the strongest protection and fastest recovery. Apply least privilege and phishing-resistant MFA to control access to those assets; reduce unnecessary internet exposure and patch weaknesses; encrypt sensitive information; and protect backups and logs from the same threats that could affect production systems. Finally, exercise incident response and restoration so people know how to use the controls under pressure.
The right implementation depends on your risk, data sensitivity, regulatory obligations, existing identity and logging systems, staff expertise, deployment geography, and budget. Treat the 2025 guidance as a practical foundation, then document which assets each control covers, who owns it, and how you will verify it continues to work.
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