Why Simplicity Is So Important to Data Security

Think about a time you were frustrated by how complex something was. Perhaps at the start of the pandemic, when remote work became the norm, you ordered a fancy new desk—only to find the instructions manual read like an encyclopedia in a foreign language. Or maybe you’ve had to find your way through automated dead ends during a customer service call. What should have been an easy fix required creating an account, downloading an app, talking to someone via chat, and waiting on hold during a needlessly long phone call.

Sorry, didn’t mean to make your blood boil. But that frustration is a common occurrence, and it’s something we at Nullafi aim to avoid.

One of our core values is simplicity, and we incorporate it into everything we do. From deployment to set up to maintenance, technology should be a simple, seamless experience that doesn’t cause undue angst.

While we don’t cuss nearly as much as the South Park creators, we do appreciate something that they’ve managed to maintain over the show’s entire run, and that’s their focus on simplicity.

A Simple Trick to South Park’s Success

Though it’s using computer software to animate, South Park largely sticks to the simple cartoon look of the original creation, one made with construction paper and scissors for a five-minute video Christmas card way back in 1997. 

The show uses static backgrounds, doesn’t attempt to make its characters and props look entirely 3D, and keeps both character design and mouth movements to a minimum.

The result? Because of its simple design, each episode can be completed the same week it airs — from conception to the final animation — giving the producers the ability to focus and plan for what’s next.

‍South Park production is also big on limiting access only to those who need it. The writer’s room is off-limits to other production staff; their presence would only complicate things. Episodes are often not written all at once. The writers will come up with a basic premise and a couple of scenes, then build animatic storyboards and record the voiceovers for those scenes. That method allows the animators to work on those scenes while the rest of the episode is being fleshed out, creating a simpler, more efficient process without introducing too many bottlenecks.      

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A Global Shortage of Cybersecurity Professionals

Of course, very few of us will go on to create one of the most popular shows of all time. But the underlying focus on simplicity remains. And for businesses throughout the world, an overreliance on complex tools and processes can prove to unravel things quickly. 

But what if, like South Park, we in cybersecurity took a simplified approach to the tools and processes that we use? Instead of developing incredibly complex, nuanced programs that only a handful of people know how to navigate, what if our tools required fewer specialized skills to run them successfully? Suddenly, a broader segment of the technology workforce can now use these tools and follow these processes, and far more organizations can practice strong cybersecurity hygiene.

That would certainly help when it comes to the global shortage of cybersecurity professionals. Since 2013, those unfilled positions have increased by 350%, and Cybersecurity Ventures believes a whopping 3.5 million positions globally will remain unfulfilled all the way through 2025.

Rather than feeling stuck because you’re looking at hiring 20 additional people that don’t exist in the real world, you can feel confident that your current IT team will handle everything in a way that’s not only secure and efficient, but repeatable and scalable because it’s simple.

Simplifying the Modern Distributed Workplace

The tools you use shouldn’t add extra work to your plate, or cause you to need to learn a new language merely to deploy the basics. Those tools should also be flexible enough to apply across an entire organization and all its unique roles.

Because simplicity is one of our core values, we inject that into our tech. We can iterate more quickly based on customer feedback and respond to security changes in the market without complicating your setup or jeopardizing your team’s sensitive information.

Data security and data privacy are constant concerns, but what if you could:

• Automatically protect sensitive data in transit before it reaches a user’s device?
• Secure data with intuitive controls that use natural language, allowing even less-technical managers to quickly govern data access at the most granular levels?
• Control access to data across any number of users, endpoints, and applications, inside and outside of your organization?
• Eliminate slow, complex deployments or application integrations?

And what if you could do all of that by simply changing one configuration file in your network? With Nullafi, you can — we’ve made it easy to protect sensitive information so your users see only the data they need to see.

You can easily hide sensitive data in any application through data protection and redaction automation. Additionally, you gain visibility across all employees within the organization, with no application integration required.  

Ready to see why simple is so worthwhile? Request a demo today.