Why Encryption is Important
Encryption is a security technique that converts data into a format that is unreadable by unauthorised individuals. It is particularly crucial when it comes to protecting sensitive information such as personal data, bank records, and trade secrets. By encrypting data, even if an attacker accesses it, they cannot read it without the correct decryption key.
AWS provides various encryption options to protect data:
- Server-side Encryption
- Client-side Encryption
- Key Management
1. Server-Side Encryption
Data at rest can be encrypted in AWS by using server-side encryption. Server-side encryption is available for AWS services, including Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, Amazon RDS, and Amazon Redshift.
When you utilise server-side encryption, AWS encrypts the data before putting it on a disc. The security of your information is guaranteed because AWS also manages the encryption keys required to encrypt and decrypt data.
2. Client-side Encryption
Data can be encrypted on the client side before being uploaded to AWS. Client-side encryption adds a layer of security by allowing you to manage the encryption keys used to encrypt and decrypt your data.
Client-side encryption is available for AWS services, including Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, and Amazon RDS. Client-side encryption requires additional administration and security measures because it forces users to control the encryption keys directly.
3. Key Management
Key management is the process of generating, storing, and controlling encryption keys. AWS provides critical management services, including AWS CloudHSM and Key Management Service (KMS).
You can easily create and manage the encryption keys to secure data using AWS Key Management Service (KMS), a managed service. Some AWS services, such as Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, and Amazon RDS, are compatible with AWS KMS.
A hardware security module (HSM) called AWS CloudHSM offers secure key management and storage. AWS services, including Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, and Amazon RDS, can be used with AWS CloudHSM.
Best Practices for Protecting Data in AWS
Use these best measures to protect your data in AWS: 1. Encrypt sensitive data: Use either server-side or client-side encryption to encrypt all sensitive data. Robust encryption methods like Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) should exist with 256-bit keys. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) KMS service can generate and manage encryption keys.
2. Utilise AWS CloudHSM: For other key management and security, use AWS CloudHSM.
3. Set up multi-factor authentication: Multi-factor authentication adds security to AWS accounts and services (MFA).
Conclusion
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive cloud computing platform that enables millions of customers worldwide to deploy and scale their services on the cloud while enjoying cost savings upfront. Data security is a critical concern for any organisation, and AWS provides several services to help address this issue. Encryption plays a vital role in data protection, and it is essential to follow best practices to safeguard the security and safety of data on AWS.
Beinex is an AWS consulting partner, and we empower customers to host their BI solutions and much more on the cloud. Our cloud migration experts bring in best-in-class stability and reliability by understanding your business strategy and working closely with you to deploy AWS infrastructure as a service.
So, whenever I open the workbook or the extract is refreshed, Tableau displays the unique values within the range specified, giving more control over the parameter values displayed.
Multiple Marks Layer Support for Maps
This is an exceptional feature to bring multiple spatial layers and context together to better understand and analyze geospatial data and map views. I will be able to include multiple marks layers from a data source to map visualizations and enhance the geospatial analysis. I can present more context in a single map view and perform further analysis with this feature.
Block Comments in Calculations
Block comments is a simple yet one of the most useful features for me, which Tableau has announced in 2020.4. I often used to add comments in complex calculations for easy understanding in future references. Earlier, only single-line comments were possible, limiting the description I could add. But from now on, I can add comments of any length to calculation windows with block comments by simply starting the comment with /* and ending with */.
What makes it unique is that the new multi-line block comment feature is consistent with other popular programming languages. This feature is an example of Tableau’s on-going effort to provide its customers with an intuitive user experience.
Tableau Server
Web Authoring Enhancements
Starting from Tableau 2020.4, it is possible to author dashboards from the browser just like how we design it in Tableau Desktop. With this web authoring enhancements, I can include Highlight actions, Format Mark Labels, apply filters to worksheets, create fixed sets, and even create extract in my workbooks from the browser itself. I no longer have to make changes from Tableau Desktop and publish it to the server. I can directly do it from the browser itself.
Offline Map Support for Tableau Server
Rendering dashboards with maps is now faster compared to previous versions. Now, I can create maps using the offline map style in web authoring, ensuring the performance of map views in Tableau Server. Offline map support is a great deal for organizations with strict internet access restrictions, assuring that map view access to all its users.
Tableau Server Management (TSM) Improvements
Tableau Server Administration activities like installation, upgrade and backup are now easy like never before. I can retry installation or upgrade from the last checkpoint in case of an unexpected issue or error during installation or upgrade, saving my efforts to obliterate tableau server.
Backups can be performed twice as fast as previous versions, and I can monitor the progress with the new progress bar giving visibility into what step the backup is on and how much time is remaining.
Backups can also be scheduled using TSM command starting from 2020.4 and that is awesome. I no longer need to prepare batch script and depend on the windows task scheduler to schedule the backups on regular intervals; instead, I can schedule it with just a single command.
Multiple Key Activation on Tableau Server Prior to TSM Initialization
During Tableau Server installation, it is now possible to activate multiple license keys prior to TSM initialization. I will be able to save a lot of time by eliminating the need to restart after the installation is completed to activate multiple licenses and experience a smoother installation.
Analytics Extension for Tableau Online
The power of the Analytics extension is now unlocked in Tableau Online too. The feature was already available in Tableau Server, and it helped us dynamically perform advanced analysis with models and functions in R, Python and other platforms.
Analytics extension in Tableau Online significantly enhances the scope of using Advanced Analytics by the common users.
Merge Duplicate External Assets
Earlier, the Database or Table with similar names used to appear as multiple assets within Tableau Catalog. But, the new feature helps me to merge those multiple assets into a single one. I can manage assets easily and keep an organized view of External assets by merging the common ones.
Tableau Prep
Tableau Prep Builder in the Browser
Prepare the data for visualizations from anywhere using a browser! Starting from 2020.4, Tableau is bringing the data prep process into one integrated platform on the web. Now I can easily prepare and manage prep flows from anywhere using a browser.
Conclusion
Tableau is progressively evolving as a single platform for data preparations, visualization, and collaboration with every update and version release.
Author : Firdous Maqbool
Images Courtesy : Tableau
