{
  "node_id": "owasp-proactive-controls-2024-c2-use-cryptography-to-protect-data",
  "title": "C2: Use Cryptography to Protect Data",
  "domain": "Cybersecurity",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "last_updated": "2026-07-17",
  "bluf": "OWASP Top 10 Proactive Controls 2024, C2: Use Cryptography to Protect Data. Sensitive data such as passwords, credit card numbers, health records, personal information and business secrets require extra protection, particularly if that data falls under privacy laws (EU's General Data Protection Regulation GDPR), financial data protection rules such as PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) or other regulations. This is one of the OWASP Top 10 Proactive Controls (2024 edition), the OWASP Foundation's list of the ten most important security techniques that every software architect and developer should build into every project. Where the OWASP Top 10 enumerates the most critical web application security risks, the Proactive Controls enumerate the defensive techniques that prevent them. Organizations should treat this control as a design requirement, an implementation checklist, and a continuous-verification obligation, supported by a security policy, automated testing in the CI/CD pipeline, developer training, and incident response.",
  "paywall": {
    "status": "LOCKED",
    "unlock_cost_usd": "0.01",
    "skyfire_id": "41779894-ece2-4163-9761-b3b1b76e19b0"
  },
  "crosswalks": {
    "_available_keys": [
      "nist_framework",
      "iso_standard",
      "industry_mapping",
      "ai_overlay_2026"
    ],
    "_note": "Full crosswalk values included in vault response"
  },
  "dependencies": [
    "owasp-asvs-l1",
    "owasp-asvs-l2",
    "nist-sp-800-53-r5",
    "iso-27001-2022"
  ],
  "primary_citations_count": 13
}