As hard as we've worked on our digital transformation at Monsanto, we are working just as hard on data security. Here are five approaches I can recommend:
- Build security in first. Rather than thinking about security after we build something, we build it in up front. Example: as we build an API we think about who will be accessing the information from it and what information might be there already that needs to be secured.
- Think holistically. We work on security offensively as well as defensively. We want to detect whether we have an issue that, so we can be predictive around it. We want to deter exploits, so if there could be an event we look for ways to frustrate it in advance. We embed that logic and thinking into all aspects of what we do.
- Think employees. Unsuspecting employees are often the vector for security hacks, so we educate our employee base about their individual role in security.
- Think customers. Customer data is theirs. We have to protect it, we have to be stewards of it, and we have to be responsible for it. That kind of attitude has to be embedded in any company that has a role in protecting customer information.
- Stay on top of data privacy in every service. By providing data services customers will sign up for, we’re creating value for them as well as advancing the agricultural space. But we have to stay on top of the data as their own and not forget that it's their decision how they want it to be consumed.
