Data security

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Data Security: The protection of data against the deliberate or accidental access of unauthorized persons.

The practice of keeping data protected from corruption or unauthorized access. The purpose of data security is to ensure privacy while protecting personal or corporate data. Two major forms of data security are encryption and strong user authentication.

Encryption describes the mechanism of using mathematical schemes and algorithms to scramble data into unreadable text.

Authentication refers to the process by which one verifies the identity of an individual. This is usually done by name and password, but may include the use of smartcards and fingerprints.