Owasp top 10 Security Risks & Vulnerabilities Note

Sensitive Data Exposure

Sensitive data exposure is one of the most widespread vulnerabilities on the OWASP list. It consists of compromising data that should have been protected.

Examples of Sensitive Data

Some sensitive data that requires protection is:

• 
  Credentials
  
• 
  Credit card numbers
  
• 
  Social Security Numbers
  
• 
  Medical information
  
• 
  Personally identifiable information (PII)
  
• 
  Other personal information
  

It is vital for any organization to understand the importance of protecting users’ information and privacy. All companies should comply with their local privacy laws.

Responsible sensitive data collection and handling have become more noticeable especially after the advent of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is a new data privacy law that came into effect May 2018. It mandates how companies collect, modify, process, store, and delete personal data originating in the European Union for both residents and visitors.

There are two types of data:

• 
  Stored data – data at rest
  
• 
  Transmitted data – data that is transmitted internally between servers, or to web browsers