Storage, Container or Object?

About this interactive

Data is in one of three states: at rest (stored), in transit (crossing a network) or in use (being processed). This activity works on data at rest, where you also choose how much to encrypt. The storage level is a whole disk, partition or volume. The container level is something that holds many objects: a folder, a mailbox, a storage bucket. The object level is one thing: a file, or a single field in a database record. The trade-off runs both ways. Encryption costs processing, so encrypting a whole disk costs more than encrypting one file; when a busy system has a single sensitive object, the object level protects it at the lowest cost. But object-level encryption only covers what someone remembered to encrypt. Miss one file, or leave the temporary copies, swap and surrounding data that sit beside it, and it is exposed. The storage level misses nothing on that storage, which is why it is considered more secure. The container level sits between: everything put into the folder or bucket is covered, and nothing outside it pays the cost. Read each requirement for two things: how sure you are which data is sensitive, and how much it matters to keep everything else fast.

What you'll learn

Choose the level at which to encrypt data at rest for a requirement: storage (a whole disk, partition or volume), container (a folder, mailbox or bucket that holds many objects) or object (one file or one field)
Explain the trade-off between the levels: encrypting less, at the object level, costs less performance but can miss sensitive objects and the information around them; encrypting the whole storage misses nothing and costs more

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

3.3 Compare and contrast concepts and strategies to protect data.

1.2 Summarize fundamental security concepts.

Key terms

Encryption: The process of converting readable data into an unreadable format using an algorithm and key to prevent unauthorized access.
Data at Rest: Data that is stored on a device or medium and not actively moving through a network, which can be encrypted at the disk, partition, volume, file, or database level.
Full Disk Encryption: Full Disk Encryption is a method of encrypting all data on a storage device at the hardware or software level, ensuring that data remains inaccessible if the device is lost or stolen without the proper authentication credentials or decryption key.
Data-at-Rest Encryption: Data-at-rest encryption protects stored data by encrypting files, volumes, or databases so that physical or logical access to storage media does not expose plaintext without the proper cryptographic key.
Data in Transit: Data that is actively moving across a network or communication channel between two endpoints, as opposed to data sitting on a storage device. Protocols such as TLS are commonly used to encrypt data in transit so it cannot be read if intercepted.
Data in Use: Data actively being processed or accessed, such as data moving through a processor or physically reviewed, which must be secured against unauthorized exposure.

Topics

Encryption Data At Rest Full Disk Encryption File Encryption Interactive Categorize

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