94% of businesses hit by a catastrophic data loss fail to survive. Even more starkly, 43% of them completely shut down and a staggering 51% are closed within two years., according to a study by the University of Texas.
These chilling statistics highlight the significance of augmenting the security posture of a business by implementing proactive data loss prevention tools. Data Loss Prevention tools are designed to track down and address data loss attempts, for example, cyber attacks, spoofing, malware injection attempts,etc., thereby maintaining business continuity.
In this article, we will have a complete breakdown of data loss prevention (DLP) and the available tools.
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What is Data Loss Prevention
Data loss prevention is a set of tools and strategies aiming at tracking down and preventing unauthorised access to data that can lead to data loss. Major causes of data loss include cyber attack, data breaches, data theft, data exfiltration, malware injection, hardware impairment, human error, etc. The main component of DLP is DLP software that identifies potential threats causing data exfiltration transmission or breaches before they turn into expensive operational disruption. It locks out unauthorised access from exfiltrating customer information, intellectual property and sensitive financial information, thus facilitating regulatory compliance. DLP software does this by continuously classifying, monitoring, tracking down, and protecting sensitive data, while in motion (network traffic), in use (endpoint actions), and at rest (data storage). Advanced DLP solutions can be used both with structured and unstructured data.
DLP solutions can be either dedicated or integrated with other tools.
- Dedicated DLP solutions are standalone tools exclusively built for DLP tasks. They come with policies and products with predefined profiles for mission-critical data. Businesses can also build profiles tailored to their needs.
- A more specialised approach, an integrated DLP software bundles with other security tools.
Which DLP you would use is determined by your organisational needs and risk profile.
Please note that even though data loss and data leakage are often used interchangeably, they are different. Data loss is any destruction of information – intentional or unintentional – due to failure or negligence in the data storage, transmission or processing system. On the other hand, data leakage takes place when a system is intruded by an unauthorised access and data is transmitted from the internal system to an external destination or recipient without consent from the organisation.
Types of DLP Solutions
- Network DLP Software: Network DLP software monitors a network behaviour to track down potential risks and protect data in motion within the network. It’s specially developed to keep the network safe from data exfiltration and unauthorised access by offering better visibility into the inbound and outbound traffic.
- Endpoint DLP Solutions: Endpoint DLP solutions offer user level data protection. They monitor and control data access in all endpoints – laptop, desktops, mobiles, etc. – where business users store mission-critical data to lock out intruders from exfiltrating it. A DLP tool does this by overseeing all activities, for example, file transfer to and from the device3s, external storage usage, emails, etc.
- Cloud DLP Solutions: Cloud DLP software protects a cloud infrastructure and the data stored in it. Besides preventing unauthorised access, a cloud FLP tool ensures your business operations comply with regulatory standards. They offer capabilities like data scanning, classification, threat tracking and analysis and reporting to shield data in the cloud storage.
How Does DLP Software Work?
The steps DLP solutions follow to protect sensitive data from loss, leakage or unauthorised access are precisely described below:
- Identification: The first step in the DLP operating process is identification and classification of mission-critical/confidential business data, for example, financial records, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or intellectual property. To identify and classify data, DLP tools employ a range of advanced techniques, such as statistical analysis, regular expression, fingerprinting, pattern matching, and ML algorithms.
- Policy Creation: After the DLP solution identifies and classifies sensitive data, the next step is to use policy engines and create rules and policies on efficient data handling. A standard policy includes the steps to be followed during accessing, transmitting and processing data.
- Monitoring: Next up is constantly monitoring data at rest (stored data), in use (being processed) and in motion (being transferred) to ensure no sensitive data is illegitimately accessed or transmitted. Database activity tracking, endpoint monitoring and network monitoring are some of the techniques used in this step.
- Detection: Upon detection of anomaly or any violation of the defined policy, the DLP solution triggers alerts. Thus, the admin team can take action before the issue escalates into operational disruption. DLP software uses behaviour-based and rules-based engines to identify any unusual activity or attempt to unauthorised access to the system.
- Prevention: DLP tools leverage technologies, such as firewalls, encryption, data masking, access control, etc., to prevent unauthorised access, encrypt information while transmitting or mask confidential data.
- Reporting and Analysis: Last comes generating reports and analytics based on the outcomes of the aforementioned steps. DLP solutions provide detailed reporting on the data usage, network traffic and condition, policy violations, threat detection and more. For this purpose, different data visualisation techniques and data analytics models are used. These advanced technologies help businesses better comprehend their data security posture and tone-up their DLP plan/strategy.
Benefits of DLP Solutions?
With the cyberthreat landscape evolving in sophistication and complexity, businesses are leaning toward using DLP tools, resulting in a boom in the DLP market.
Case in point: The global DLP market is projected to hit a staggering $8.9 billion by 2028- up from $3.4 billion in 2023 – at a CAGR of 21.2% during the forecast period. This expansion of market size is attributed to the benefits DLP software offer:
Let’s go through the benefits DLP solutions offer:
Enhanced Visibility
DLP tools offer enhanced visibility into data usage by allowing businesses to continuously monitor data across the network, endpoints and data storage infrastructure such as the cloud. Thus, they can get a stalk of where they are with their data, how it’s being used, who has access to it, etc. In addition, efficient data tracking also facilitates the detection of anomalies, potential threats, and policy violence, thus triggering alerts. This improved visibility is imperative when it comes to ensuring regulatory compliance, and effective data governance that augments the overall security posture of the company.
Helps Dodge Data Breaches
The third quarter of 2024 reported 422.61 million data leaks that severely impacted the affected people. Data breach can cause a business to face catastrophic consequences – loss of customers, damaged reputation and declined ROI. One of the key benefits of DLP software is its capabilities to help identify and prevent data breaches, thereby escaping data loss. It does this by continuously monitoring data movement and implementing data policies. Thus, potential security threats can be detected and blocked before they escalate into a major issue.
With this proactive approach, businesses can evade financial and reputational stresses beget by data breaches.
Automates Data Classification
Efficient data classification is critical to managing sensitive business data. High-end DLP tools automates data classification based on its sensitivity, thus allowing businesses to get an overview of the data they hold. It becomes easier for them to implement security measures and shield data against cyber attacks.
Automated data classification helps augment the security posture of a company by limiting the chances of manual errors, and reducing the attack vector.
Enhanced Incident Response
DLP software sends automated alerts upon detection of a potential threat. Thus, the security team can respond to it immediately and take necessary measures to prevent data loss and other operational disruption.
Common DLP Software Features
With the cyber threat landscape evolving in sophistication and complexity, businesses are turning to DLP tools to augment either security posture. Some common features high-end DLP software offer include:
DLP tools and software offer a range of features and capabilities, such as:
- Advanced data analytics
- Real-time monitoring of networks, endpoints and data storage systems like the cloud
- Automated workflows
- Integration with existing technology stacks
Top DLP Tools
Digital Guardian DLP by Fortra
Key Features
- Powered by AWS, Digital Guardian DLP by Fortra, is a SaaS-based enterprise-grade DLP tool
- Comes with Intuitive, out-of-the-box dashboards
- Supports prebuilt policies to enable effortless detection, monitoring, logging and blocking data threats
- Interoperable with existing data classification tools
Cyberhaven
Key Features
- content analysis and data lineage to reduce false positives
- Supports seamless integration with existing security tools and systems
- enforces predefined policies to regulate data access, sharing, and usage
- Supports real-time monitoring and continuous data discovery
(Broadcom) Symantec DLP
Key Features
- Supports continuous monitoring of data usage, movement, and access.
- real-time alerts and incident response capabilities
- Supports seamless integration with third-party security tools
- Supports scanning, discovering and classification of confidential data across networks, endpoints and cloud environments. scans, discovers, and classifies sensitive data across various endpoints, networks, and cloud environments
Palo Alto Networks Enterprise DLP
Key Features
- Delivered through the cloud using Palo Alto next-generation firewalls and management console.
- Supports predefined and customizable detection rules and contextual conditions for automatic detection of regulated data and personal identifiable information (PII).
- Comes with a single policy engine for all DLP elements
- Comes with prebuilt policies for regulatory compliance
Proofpoint
Key Features
- Works across managed and unmanaged endpoints and cloud
- Comes with a unified console that supports advanced search and filtering for data exfiltration and potential threats
- Comes with modern cloud-native architecture
- Supports centralized policy and administration for streamlined workflows
Trellix Data Security (formerly McAfee)
Key Features
- Supports seamless integration with third-party tools for data classification, incident response and data orchestration.
- Supports sophisticated and flexible data classification
Data Loss Prevention Best Practices
Implementing a DLP solution that aligns with your business needs is a complex task that requires a coordinated approach. Following the best practices described below can make the process seamless.
- Establish a clear DLP policy: For a seamless implementation of a DLP software, establishing a realistic policy aligned with the security strategy of your business is critical.
- Prioritise identifying and securing data with proactive measures. Classify data based on their sensitivity level.
- Check for new updates and features rolled out in your DLP solution to ensure it performs at its best. Make sure recent upgrades and functionalities are deployed to augment data protection.
- One of the most used techniques for data protection is to encrypt it in an unreadable format and ensure only authorised users can decrypt it.
- Implement stringent access control measures, such as multi-factor authentication , to ensure only authorised users can access your mission- critical business data.
- Keep your data under continuous monitoring to track down potential threats and take preventive measures timely. Ensure conducting regular security audits and reviewing security policies to effectively address security loopholes.
- Conduct Regular Security Audits: Review security policies and controls to address vulnerabilities effectively.
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