Data Security Glossary

No matter what your role is within an organization, this data security glossary is intended for anyone from the security leader to the security practitioner.

Sensitive data

Sensitive data refers to any information that could be harmful to an organization if disclosed or accessed by unauthorized individuals. Examples of sensitive data include everything from customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) such as health records, trade secrets, and financial information to highly confidential trade secrets. To adequately protect this sensitive data, organizations must know where it is, then implement security measures such as enforcing access controls or moving sensitive data out of insecure environments. Learn more about finding and protecting sensitive data in the cloud.