Mainnet Musings and Keeping Data Secure

On Our Radar

We are back from Mainnet 2024, a crypto-first conference focused on fostering an atmosphere of collaboration and solution-based thinking between legacy financial institutions and blockchain industry leaders. Several themes emerged, including the trajectory of enterprise blockchain adoption — not just in financial services but across multiple sectors and applications.

Paul Brody, Principal and Global Blockchain Leader at EY, joined Nasdaq TradeTalks from Mainnet to discuss blockchain technology as a misinformation solution. Brody explained that while blockchain has historically been used for preventing fraud in financial transactions, it can be leveraged as a tamper-proof tool to store data and identify the origins of news stories, assisting readers to more clearly identify fake news and misinformation.

This October, we also spotlight Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a significant annual event that has been promoting the importance of cybersecurity since 2004. Throughout the month, we will engage with top industry thought leaders, including seasoned cybersecurity practitioners, security experts, legal professionals and policymakers. Our discussions will explore a wide array of topics, from the latest cybersecurity threats and mitigation strategies to regulatory changes and innovations shaping the future of digital security. 

With October being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, can you speak to why companies should prioritize data governance and the importance of keeping data secure?

The discipline of Enterprise Data Governance should work “hand in glove” with any organization’s cybersecurity capabilities for a number of key reasons, such as:

• Data governance helps to define where sensitive corporate data exists across the enterprise data estate. In the event of a cyber incident, knowing where points of infiltration may have accessed privacy-regulated data in the shortest amount of time is of critical importance.
• Data governance defines and maintains policies for the protection and appropriate use of enterprise data. These policies may help cyber teams identify the criticality and severity of cyber events.
• Data governance establishes data ownership within the organization, which identifies corporate contacts that may be called upon in the event of a cybersecurity event.

Given that data ecosystems are currently highly fragmented, what are some of the best practices companies should consider implementing when it comes to data governance?

It’s critical for companies to establish what key data assets (often referred to as data “domains”) require well-defined protection protocols based on sensitivity levels, ownership and policies. Importantly, companies should focus on the most critical data to start to avoid trying to do too much and risking not driving value.

Additionally, companies should have corporate-wide data literacy and education efforts, establishing the importance of data governance and driving buy-in and compliance across all organizational levels.  

How do you think data governance will evolve in the next decade?

Forward leaps in AI will transform many of the labor-intensive activities that require significant human capital and data governance software. Examples include data classification, duplication-management in master and reference data, data lineage and traceability, to name a few areas. Data governance organizations will also begin taking on more responsibility around AI/GenAI governance, including establishment of ethical use, guardrails, and more.

The Crypto Regulatory Environment in the U.S.

We discuss the crypto regulatory environment in the U.S. with:

• Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase

Bitcoin Leadership and Investor Diversification

We discuss bitcoin leadership and investor diversification with:

• Andy Baehr, Head of Product at CoinDesk Indices

What’s at Stake for Crypto in the 2024 U.S. Election?

We discuss what’s at stake for crypto in the 2024 U.S. election and prospects for legislation with:

• Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association

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