What is baseline data?
Reviewed by Anthon Wansland
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
Definition
Baseline data is the starting reference you measure change against. In security, NIST uses a baseline to mean a predefined set of controls that serves as a starting point for protecting a system.
- Category
- Data
- Also called
- baseline, baseline measurement
- Last updated
Sources checked: csrc.nist.gov
Last verified against the official page:
A baseline is the "before" picture. You record where things stand, then compare later readings to it to see what changed.
In security, NIST defines a baseline as the set of controls that apply to information or a system to meet legal, regulatory or policy requirements and to manage risk. In its catalog of controls, baselines are predefined sets of controls put together for groups or organizations. NIST also describes baselines for low-, moderate- and high-impact systems, which give you a starting point you then tailor.
A plain example
Say you check which sites list your home address today. That list is your baseline. A month later you check again, and any new listing stands out because you know what was there before. Without the baseline you can't tell a new exposure from an old one.
Baseline data vs. related terms
Baseline data isn't the same as a data point, which is a single value. It is also different from telemetry data, which is a stream of readings. A baseline is the reference set you compare that stream to.
How to protect yourself
- 1
Record what's exposed today
Note which sites list your name, address, phone number and email. That's your personal baseline.
- 2
Recheck on a schedule
Listings and breach exposure change. Check every few months and compare with your baseline.
- 3
Watch for changes, not only totals
A single new listing with your home address matters more than ten old ones. Serus finds where your address and phone number are listed, removes them, and keeps watching for new ones.
- 4
Keep your accounts locked down
Use a unique password for each account and turn on two-step verification, so a change in your baseline isn't an account takeover.
See where your personal data is exposed
Serus finds it on data brokers and people-search sites and removes it.
Frequently asked
What is a security baseline?
A security baseline is a predefined set of controls chosen as a starting point to protect a system, which you then tailor to your needs. NIST describes baselines for low-, moderate- and high-impact systems.
Why is baseline data important?
It gives you something to compare against, so you can tell real change from normal variation.
Sources
- baseline - Glossary · csrc.nist.gov
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