As the spotlight focuses on cyber security in light of recent high-profile data breaches of Optus and Medibank, industry specialists say it’s essential to also shift data protection “beyond the wild west”.

Data analytics specialist PBT Group General Manager Will Erskine and Principal Consultant Andy Roberts say that emphasis on data governance and management should be critical in improving cyber security.

“Data governance maps out the policies and procedures that are applied to data to ensure it is accurate, available and secure,” the pair said.

“Data management encompasses the processes and the technology that implement the policies and procedures to provide the data for use with real business benefits.”

The experts say that data is the “most valuable asset an organisation has” and therefore needs adequate safeguards to manage its usage.

“Organisations need to strike a balance between keeping data locked up completely and providing access for appropriate reasons,” they said.

“Data security cannot be viewed in isolation, it must be balanced with data availability. Proper data governance is essential to achieving that balance.”

The organisation recommends that businesses establish regularly reviewed and enhanced data governance strategies to understand gaps and strengthen within its data landscape.

It says data controls “must be established and communicated to data users and owners” to ensure that they are adapted throughout an organisation.

Mr Erskine and Mr Roberts warn that without effective protocols and protections, data governance frameworks are “still in the modern equivalent of the wild west days of the bank with an underground vault”.