Dark data is a major challenge in enterprises, and it’s not going away soon. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce dark data and the risks that come with it.

1. 7/15/22, 12:55 AM Dark Data Management: Mitigating the Risks of the Invisible - EnterpriseTalk
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Dark Data Management: Mitigating the Risks of the
Invisible
Dark data is a major challenge in enterprises, and it’s not going away soon. Fortunately, there are
ways to reduce dark data and the risks that come with it.
Many businesses unknowingly ignore an entire category of data essential to their data protection and
management policies in today’s ostensibly endless data volume and complexity. According to recent
research by Veritas, Data’s Dark Side, a company’s data is typically more than 50% “dark,” or
information stored in data repositories but has no assigned or established value. Dark data pose
severe threats to an enterprise’s security and compliance efforts and has high storage costs, making
it more crucial than ever to solve the underlying problems that lead to it.
Dark data threatens protection
The majority of firms are unclear about the data they must secure. Dark data reservoirs, which may
house sensitive and important data, constitute a tempting target for hackers and ransomware
attacks since dark data is frequently out of sight and out of mind for many companies. Clearly,
understanding the data’s nature, location, and value is essential for surviving any ransomware
assault. Organizations will be more successful in knowing how to safeguard data from risk and
recover after an attack if they have a greater understanding of their data.
Dark data threatens compliance
Untagged and unstructured data makes it challenging to comply with continually changing regulatory
environments. To comply with data compliance regulations, businesses may strategically implement
data gathering, archiving, and surveillance capabilities. Companies will be able to adhere to strict
standards and adopt retention rules throughout their whole data estate with better management of
dark data.
By Swapnil Mishra - July 13, 2022

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Dark data and sustainability
Dark data plays a significant role in an enterprise’s environmental compliance. The environmental
cost of dark data must be given attention as businesses attempt to create sustainability initiatives
that will fulfill carbon reduction objectives. Companies must eliminate unnecessary data from their
data centers and clouds to safeguard the environment from dark data. Enterprises have a great
chance to lower their carbon footprint, adhere to industry environmental requirements, and achieve
sustainability goals that are becoming more and more relevant to various stakeholders by
appropriately handling dark data.
Also Read: Five Trends That Will Drive the Data Center of the Future
Managing and protecting dark data
Dark data compromises an organization’s compliance and security. Here is how data managers can
better identify, manage and protect dark data within their company:
Proactive Data Management
For enterprises to obtain visibility into their data, manage data-related risks, and decide which data to
keep versus delete before a critical security event occurs, data officers must adapt and act from a
proactive data management mindset. Data managers can implement tactics to establish a proactive
mindset, are data mapping and data minimization. These tactics can discover all sources and
locations of collected and stored data, reduce the amount of data being stored and confirm that
retained data is directly related to the purpose in which it was collected.
Using Technology Advancements
Businesses could benefit from technological improvements as well. Large pools of untagged,
unstructured data may be efficiently identified, managed, and protected due to Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and Machine Learning (ML), which also play a crucial part in data management procedures. To
ensure that sensitive or risky data is correctly managed and safeguarded, regardless of where it
resides, the ultimate goal is to collect the information, not just the data, at the source (edge). This
can be accomplished by fast scanning, labeling, and classifying information. As a result, by
identifying vulnerabilities and mitigating risks, transparent AI and ML rules assist enterprises in
gaining complete visibility into their data. The next frontier is that.
By lowering costs and enabling actions through untapped intelligence, properly managed dark data
provides enterprises with a safer and more compliant future. It also opens up opportunities for
organizational optimization and innovation within any company.
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Swapnil Mishra
Swapnil Mishra is a Business News Reporter with OnDot Media. She is a journalism graduate with 5+ years of experience in journalism
and mass communication. Previously Swapnil has worked with media outlets like NewsX, MSN, and News24.
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