On Data Leakage from Non-production Systems

Abstract

This study is an exploration of areas pertaining to the use of production data in non-production environments. During the software development lifecycle, non-production environments are used to serve various purposes to include unit, component, integration, system, user acceptance, performance and configuration testing. Organisations and third parties have been and are continuing to use copies of production data in non-production environments. This can lead to personal and sensitive data being accidentally leaked if appropriate and rigorous security guidelines are not implemented. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for minimising data leakage from non-production environments. The framework was evaluated using guided interviews and was proven effective in helping organisation managing sensitive data in non-production environments.