Episode 18 — Shield stored account data from theft and misuse
Protecting stored account data is a precision exercise on the exam: know which data elements may be stored, how they must be protected, and which elements are never permitted after authorization. This episode anchors those lines and ties them to verifiable controls. You will differentiate rendering PAN unreadable through strong cryptography, truncation, tokenization, or hashing—with appropriate key management—from visualization rules like masking on receipts and screens. We connect data classification to retention and disposal, stressing that the best protection is not storing data at all. Expect answer choices to probe your understanding of where PAN can lurk: exports, backups, screenshots, application logs, crash dumps, and business intelligence warehouses. The exam’s perspective is consistent: protection is proven by design artifacts and by results from data discovery tools that scan representative locations and show absence or correct protection.
We then work through operational realities. A tokenization project reduces exposure but leaves historical data in archives; a correct answer addresses discovery, migration, and verified destruction. A database uses full-disk encryption but stores PAN in clear text at the table layer; the exam points toward field-level protection aligned to risk and key management separations. A storage admin copies SAN snapshots to a secondary site without documented controls; the right remedy aligns backup paths with the same cryptographic and access guardrails as production. Best practices include short, written retention schedules, immutable logs of erasure actions, and key management that separates duties so no single actor can read protected PAN without oversight. Troubleshooting focuses on vendor claims that “we encrypt everything” without specifying scope, algorithms, rotation, or key custody. Choose answers that name the allowed storage elements, cite exact protection methods, and produce evidence that the methods work across all places the data can live. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with.
