Data Loss Prevention (DLP) software is crucial to ensure that data is not lost, misused or accessed by unapproved individuals. Data loss prevention software monitors, detects and potentially blocks sensitive data exfiltration while the data is in use, in motion or at rest. It is largely driven by regulatory compliance as enterprises today must be able to demonstrate adequate care has been taken to avert the loss or theft of confidential and sensitive information on their networks.
The ability to detect and ultimately prevent data leakage or theft is core to cybersecurity defense – after all that’s what most attackers are ultimately after. Data loss prevention solutions are deployed to combat the threat of data theft or leakage from these personas:
This adversary is typically well-funded and very sophisticated. Security teams must have visibility into all activity, highlighted by data loss prevention solutions, anomalous and suspicious behavior detection, cyber threat hunting tools, and rapid and automated response capabilities.
This adversary is also well-funded and smart, but they have already been granted access to the network. For the malicious insider/external actor, it’s critical to have data loss detection and prevention policies that are enforced to prevent sensitive data from being stolen.
This person inadvertently provides information to the malicious actor. Security tools must detect and respond to not only attacks that target employees, but risky also actions that employees perform to circumvent security policies and controls.
There are also industries that have put an emphasis on data loss prevention through regulations. In their 2017 Data Loss Prevention Magic Quadrant, Gartner said that by 2020, 85% of organizations will implement at least one form of integrated DLP.
Data loss prevention serves multiple use cases including:
There are three critical components of an overall network data loss prevention solution:
