Guardians of the Data | Know Your Crown Jewels: Discovery at the Heart - Bryan DeLuca - Guardians of the Data

Know Your Crown Jewels: Discovery at the Heart - Bryan DeLuca - Guardians of the Data - Episode #17

November 20, 2025 / 47:11/E17

Do you really know what your organization’s “crown jewels” are? Or how to protect them?

Bryan DeLuca, Principal Cybersecurity Engineer and self-proclaimed “Swiss Army knife” for data security programs, shares why every great security strategy starts with understanding your data. With over 25 years of IT and cybersecurity experience across a variety of industries, Bryan dives into what it really means to know your “crown jewels”, the data that would stop your business cold if it were compromised. He also discusses the critical role of trust and mental health in fostering a productive and secure work environment. Additionally, Bryan offers practical advice on data protection strategies, the significance of process-driven approaches, and how to effectively implement data lineage and insider threat management.

Takeaways:

Know Your Data: Start by identifying what your organization's most sensitive and valuable data is. This varies by industry, so tailor your approach accordingly.
Engage with the Business: Build relationships with business stakeholders (like a business information security officer) to understand what data is truly critical and why.
Think Like an Attacker: Consult with ethical hackers or your red team to understand what data would be most attractive to adversaries and how it might be targeted.
Do Your Own Reconnaissance: Proactively research what information about your organization is available on the dark web or in hacker forums. Don’t rely solely on automated tools, get hands-on.
Develop and Practice Incident Response: Go beyond compliance checklists. Create tailored incident response plans for different types of sensitive data and run realistic, unannounced tabletop exercises to test your readiness.
Map and Monitor Sensitive Data: Build a data catalog or index to track where sensitive data lives, how it moves, and who accesses it. Use tagging and alerting to prioritize responses to incidents involving critical data.

Quote of the Show: