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Cybersecurity In-Depth: Feature articles on security strategy, latest trends, and people to know.
Poll Results: Security Pros Make The (Hypothetically) Ultimate Data Decision
What if you could protect only one category of your organization's data?
![](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt6d90778a997de1cd/bltc535585320a7dc32/64f0d1690b326d4e844ef82f/602x250_dataprivacy.jpg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=95&format=jpg&disable=upscale)
So much data to protect, so little time. Or budget. Or expertise. And so CISOs and other security pros prioritize, starting with the most business-critical intelligence and working down from there.
But … what if prioritizing wasn't an option? What if only one type of data could get all the budget and attention, leaving all others to fall by the wayside?
It's a hypothetical bound to make even those security decision-makers with nerves of steel a little woozy. Yet we couldn't help ourselves. And so we asked: If you could protect only one category of your organization's data, what would it be?
![novpollresults.png novpollresults.png](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt6d90778a997de1cd/blt4d9cf9e5c08715cb/64f0d11e1bf53654c3bf9753/novpollresults.png/?width=100&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
With 2019 on track to break the record for the most data breaches and exposed records ever, according to Risk Based Security, it's little wonder why nearly two-thirds of the 197 people who answered our "Tough Choices" poll were on the same page: Protect PII!
It's understandable. The costs of a data breach can be felt in the forms of business disruption, revenue losses from system downtime, damage to a company's reputation, and the cost of lost customers, according to Limor Kessem, global executive security advisor at IBM Security.
Coming in at a distant second, 20% of poll-takers said they'd protect their IP over all other types of data, followed by classified government info (11%) and other data covered by security/notification mandates (3%).
Tough choices, for sure — and one you'll hopefully never have to make.
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