Cybersecurity definition
What is Data Classification?
By Cyber Tool Stack Editorial TeamUpdated
Definition
Labeling data by sensitivity — public, internal, confidential, restricted — so that access controls, encryption, and handling rules can be applied automatically based on what a piece of data actually is.
Where Data Classification fits in the security landscape
These beginner lessons use this term while explaining the surrounding security control.
Related cybersecurity terms
DSPMData Security Posture ManagementContinuously discovers where sensitive data actually lives across cloud and SaaS environments and who can reach it, catching forgotten copies and risky exposure that a data inventory built once, by hand, would miss.TokenizationReplacing a piece of sensitive data, like a credit card number, with a nonsensitive placeholder token that has no exploitable value on its own, while the real value is kept in a separate, tightly controlled vault.