Podcast #116: Delete those files!

Feb 22, 2023

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Brian tackles the concept of data deletion on this podcast and why it is essential. Brian’s guest is Dr. Vincent Berk, Chief Strategy Officer at Quantum Xchange.

Dr. Berk has a Ph.D. in AI/ML and describes himself as an “energetic technologist, entrepreneur, and animated thought leader in cyber security, driving growth through innovative SaaS solutions. He was the founder and CEO of FlowTraq, a cyber security company that Riverbed acquired.” Dr. Berk is also a blogger, public speaker, and startup advisor. Before his current role, he was a computer science faculty member at Dartmouth College. He urged boards and executives to start viewing their hoarded data as a liability rather than a ticket to incredible growth. He stressed the importance of instituting policies that dealt with data destruction.

Why do we covet our data so passionately? According to Dr. Berk, the affordability, low maintenance, and ease of use of the cloud mean that organizations have an increasing tendency to hoard data. He asserts that this hoarded data is a corporate liability, a detriment to organizations that increases their appeal to bad actors. For example, from December 2022 through February 8, 2023, there have been nine data breach incidents. The unlucky targets included MailChimp, T-Mobile, JD Sports, and others. The Roomba data breach included leaked images from iRobot customers. Check your smart vacuum.

Brian wastes no time jumping right into the discussion by asking Dr. Berk how he got into the notion of people deleting data. It’s an interesting topic that gets overlooked. If you don’t have time to listen all the way through, the time stamps are listed below.

00:00 Intro (Jumping right into the topic)

Why the interest in data deletion
Risk profile
Why keep all that data
Inexpensive to store
Risk vs. Liability

05:00 Point of diminishing returns

It depends on what you will do with the data
Examples of value
- Medication
- Social Media
Finding a way to use the data
Risk profile
Is the value higher for older or current data
Purpose

10:00 Good hygiene for data

Encrypt
The cost of keeping data
Reasons to keep the data
Violation
Remediation

15:00 It’s hard

Data is stored everywhere now
- files
- databases
- cloud
- wire
Who is responsible
Risk justification
Where to start
Legal Ramifications

20:00 What are the processes

Encrypt or destroy
Long-term costs
Green initiatives

25:00 Philosophical

Should the Internet “forget” data
Leaving the decision to the social media companies
Clicking the “I agree” box without reading the content

30:00 What happens when companies get acquired

Risk to backups
Bad actors go for the backups
Is it necessary to backup
- What do cloud service providers say?
Cloud is just different
Encrypt
- who has access to the keys
What data does need to be kept
- orphaned data

35:00 Is there an easy button

Externalized cost of the benefit of the computing industry
Drawbacks
Losing data is the exception
What happens to the data during troubleshooting
What happens to the data when someone leaves the organization
The industry doesn’t have this discussion

40:00 Shared docs

File sizes
Number of files shared
Docs that get shared over and over
What is the liability of the data
Should SAS companies create a best practices

45:00 Wrap-up

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