You cannot protect information if you do not know where it is stored.
Business data may exist in Microsoft 365, file servers, laptops, cloud applications, accounting systems, email, USB drives, and personal storage accounts.
A simple data inventory helps identify where important information lives and who can access it.
Start with the most sensitive information: customer records, payroll data, financial documents, contracts, health information, and intellectual property.
Once the business knows where the data is located, it can make better decisions about backups, permissions, encryption, retention, and DLP.
This process also helps find old or unnecessary copies of sensitive files.
Good data security begins with visibility. A company should know what information it has, where it is stored, who needs it, and how it is protected.