How would you ensure data security when collaborating with external vendors in data engineering projects?

Going through the vendor's background should be the starting point, a simple Google search of any issues surrounding them is a good start, before onboarding the vendor, try requesting their GDPR policies and have someone from your firm's compliance team go through them. Other things you can generally consider are how they deliver data is it a proprietary solution or is it over the public network, if the data delivery is automated what sort of security do they require the client to have in order to access the data? How open are they with communicating their practices for data security and access controls? If needed request them to arrange a session with a technical person so you can have your doubts cleared more precisely.

Vendor vetting is essential for data security when collaborating with external partners. It involves assessing security certifications, data handling policies, compliance with legal standards, and past performance. Key practices include reviewing contracts, conducting background checks, and ensuring continuous monitoring to protect sensitive information throughout the collaboration.

Check out the vendor's background thoroughly before partnering up. Look at their reputation, financial health, and security practices. Certifications like ISO 27001 or SOC 2 are good signs. Ask for references and see what others say about their work.

1. Encrypt data in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256). 2. If your data is tabular, identify PII/SPI columns and ecrypt them separately during ingestion. 3. Implement Row-Level-Security (RLS) wherever possible. 4. Follow principle of least privilege and grant access only in groups. 5. Log every decryption and set alerts on it in real-time. 6. Rotate your keys periodically. 7. Expose data in Views instead of granting access directly to the underlying table. 8. Try to set-up your data governance from a single platform. This would help you to protect your data during any security violation. Unity Catalog is a very good tool for that and it's open source now.

When collaborating with external vendors in data engineering projects, ensuring data security is crucial. To achieve this, establish a clear and comprehensive Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) that outlines the roles and responsibilities of each party. Regularly audit and monitor vendor access to your data and systems, implementing strict access controls and minimum privilege levels. Additionally, use encryption and secure communication protocols to transmit data, and conduct regular security assessments and risk evaluations to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. Finally, maintain transparency and regular communication with the vendor to ensure data security and compliance with your organization's security policies.

By clearly defining data security requirements, responsibilities in the event of a data breach, compliance standards, audit rights, data handling procedures, and confidentiality obligations in your vendor contracts, you create a robust legal safeguard that protects your organization’s data. This not only ensures that your data security standards are upheld but also provides a clear framework for maintaining security throughout the collaboration.

Our role in contract clarity involves defining data security requirements, carefully reviewing and negotiating terms, setting clear Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and ensuring compliance. Regularly monitor the vendor's adherence to the contract, conduct periodic audits, and collaborate with legal teams to protect your organization’s data throughout the collaboration.

Make sure your contracts clearly spell out who is responsible for what when it comes to data security. Include details about data ownership, confidentiality, and legal compliance. Also, specify what happens if there’s a data breach.

Clarity is the most important thing to consider when creating contracts with vendors. It is vital to include exact standards on data safety as well as procedures that can suit the company’s needs at all times. Encryption of data should be applied, the system should be kept secure from unauthorized individuals and frequent audits have to be carried out so as to maintain safety.

Having a concise and clear contract will help you keep things under control and maintain trust with your vendors. Generally, go through the contract to address basic security issues and concerns, determine what would be defined as violations, and make sure there are no loopholes in the contracts. A lot of the time vendors keep the contract open-ended, try to avoid it and make sure responsibility by each party is addressed clearly. Ensure the contract mentions the roles each party will play in case of a data breach and how the communication will flow in that case.

Only give the vendor access to the data they absolutely need. Use strong authentication methods like multi-factor authentication (MFA) to secure access points.

Access control is the way to go. Usually what happens is that vendor is asking for all sort of accesses, which usually they don't need. So be careful and plan ahead when you hire a vendor and provide him with accesses the need for sure, sometimes this probably will require some security changes in order to provide them proper access, so think twice which is worth it to give straight access , because the security need to be changed if we want more granular access or implement small changes to give right amount of accesses.

Try to keep the access control tight nit and only share specific and the requested information. Test out your own processes for deliveries to avoid any loopholes, security bypasses, query injections, or system overloads while data querying. RBAC systems are perfect to maintain access control and keep logs of data access in order to avoid any room assumptions. Keep processes to check the logs and flag any suspicious activity. As an extra precautionary measure, you can maintain access control over the hardware level as well.

Leverage least access principles by building policies which allow for specific datasets to be accessed only if absolutely needed. Strip any sensitive information in datasets unless you have a very good reason for not doing it. Consider whitelisting vendor IPs if that's possible for you, and ensure you have confidence in the vendor's ability to securely store your company / customer data securely. Log everything, particularly if the vendor is pulling from you. Monitor for irregular traffic spikes if you're concerned about credentials being leaked as it will be an early warning sign. Also, consider mocked data in early days, as schema and data structure is the most important aspect of dev initially.

Access control involves managing who can view or use resources within organization. It includes implementing the principle of least privilege, using role-based access control (RBAC), and requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA). Regular audits and reviews ensure that access remains appropriate, minimizing the risk of unauthorized data access or breaches.

Secure transmission involves using encryption protocols, such as TLS or SSL, to protect data as it moves between systems. This ensures that information remains confidential and integral during transfer, preventing unauthorized access and tampering. Additionally, implementing secure communication channels and practices further enhances data protection during transmission.

Encrypt data when it’s being sent and when it’s stored. This makes sure that even if someone intercepts it, they can’t read it. Use strong encryption protocols like TLS.

Manipulation is a risk to data that is in transit . Therefore, ensure secure transmission methods are always used whenever data is being shared with vendors.

For secure transmission, ensure that all data transmissions between your organization and the vendor are encrypted to prevent unauthorized access and eavesdropping. This includes using secure protocols like HTTPS and VPNs.

To achieve continuous monitoring, deploy comprehensive monitoring tools for network, system, and application performance. Set baselines to identify anomalies, configure automated alerts for suspicious activities, and keep tools updated. Regularly review logs, conduct audits, and implement incident response plans to swiftly address detected issues and ensure ongoing security.

For continuous monitoring, regularly audit and continuously monitor vendors to ensure they meet the required standards and regulations. This helps in the early detection of potential privacy incidents or non-compliance.

Keep an eye on data exchanges and vendor activities. Use tools to detect any unusual behavior or security threats. Regularly review and audit your security practices to catch issues early.

Make software which registers who’s got access to files when they’re doing so and during what time exactly. Ensure all log files are being checked periodically to guarantee that agreed-upon security measures are strictly adhered to. Tools which help in distinguishing ups and downs can be used to single out questionable moves.

Have a clear plan for what to do if there’s a data breach. Make sure both you and the vendor know the steps for communication, investigation, and fixing the issue. Practice these steps regularly to be prepared.

In the event of a security breach, it is important to have a well-functioning incident response plan. This plan should include instructions for preventing the spread and evaluation of a breach as well as contacting affected people. Perform routine exercises with your suppliers so that they can handle any emergency situation promptly and efficiently.

Keep the lines of communication open with your vendors. Regular updates and security briefings can help. Train both your team and the vendor’s team on best security practices. Stay informed about the latest security trends to continuously improve your defenses.