How to Audit Your Data Security Posture Management

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Is a data-first protocol that accounts for the emerging complexity of securing sensitive cloud data across multiple cloud environments in recent years.  DPSM focuses on Identifying where sensitive data Is stored, who has access to that data, how that data Is used, and how secure that data Is kept as a result. The resulting posture assessed for your organization’s data security can then be addressed by DSPM tools and solutions for proactive and automated protection.

Why audit your Data Security Posture Management?

Effective data governance in today’s era of multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud computing can no longer depend on a single silo of on-prem sensitive data walled off by traditional security solutions, especially on a manual basis. Access controls for each cloud service used can quickly add up to more vulnerabilities and the chance of unauthorized access to sensitive information.  Auditing your DSPM along with existing security measures greatly enhances your data governance tech stack to discover, classify, and monitor your sensitive data across multiple sources. A systematic risk analysis with DSPM in mind enables organizations to holistically reduce their attack surface, automate continuous security measures, and effectively enforce legal compliance and protection wherever their sensitive data may be accessed and contained.

How to audit your DSPM

The following steps can be carried out with the help of a DSPM solution to successfully audit the current posture of your sensitive data and its security. DSPM solutions can conduct these audits on a continuous and automated basis once configured:

Discover your sensitive data

The most important step to take first for DSPM auditing is to discover the sensitive data that exists across all data sources, whether at rest or in motion. A good DSPM solution must have the support to scan structured, unstructured, and shadow data alike to establish as broad a foundation as possible for a comprehensive audit.

Classify your data

After a DSPM audit discovers the sensitive data in source locations, the DSPM solution helps assign classifications to that data. Classifications, assigned with assistance from machine-learning or AI, enable DSPM audits to designate various degrees of potential risk in the risk analysis that follows. For DSPM, discerning those degrees of risk in context helps the DSPM audit determine the appropriate level of action on classified data.

Perform a risk analysis

DSPM audits perform a risk analysis either during or after the classification process. The risk analysis must perform a comprehensive assessment of risk across data stores based on not only the sensitive data that exists but also how that data’s access is secured. The results of the risk analysis determines the state of the data’s security posture.

Reduce your attack surface

DSPM solutions conducting the DSPM audit provide organizations the means to act on the findings of a risk analysis to reduce the attack surface for potential data breaches. The actions taken must meet the appropriate level of risk for the different classifications of sensitive data, as well as to keep actions within legal compliance.

Monitor your data

Automation provided by DSPM solutions provide continuous and centralized monitoring of data sources to detect new risk and potential attack paths as they occur. Effective DSPM means that DSPM audits are never a one-and-done deal and should also account for legal compliance.

Data Security Posture Management best practices

The complexity of today’s data environments, and the resulting challenge in effectively and efficiently securing the sensitive data contained within them, makes best practices for leveraging DSPM a little different from the norm. The main objective of DSPM solutions is to centralize and automate appropriate security measures for sensitive data, so an organization must enable such a solution to achieve their DSPM goals. Best practices for DSPM work towards this enablement.

These major considerations come into play for security teams to follow DSPM best practices:

• Cast a wide net ­­– The DSPM solution that runs the audit must account for as many sources of data as possible. This means no sources used by the organization should be left out of the audit under the assumption that no sensitive data exists in them. That leads to potential oversights that can be costly in the event of a data breach.
• Fine-tune for your needs – Effective DSPM solutions can be tailored for the specific risks and sensitive data that impact a given organization the most while using out-of-the-box risk analysis as a starting point.
• Use the right solution for the job – DSPM audits, and the follow-through to automate and monitor your data-first security measures, requires a lean and broadly compatible solution. Minimal setup time and comprehensive tools to enhance the data governance tech stack are a must for a quality solution.

Take control of your data security

Thorough data governance practices and the risk analysis reports provided by the Classify360 platform offer clients a path forward in applying DSPM principles to sensitive data. Instant Insights can give you the first picture of where your organization’s data posture stands, while the Risk Analysis models and the user-configured, automated policies of Comply360 can act on those findings to implement ongoing, data-first security measures.

Learn more about the powerful Classify360 platform and determine which solution is right for you. Chat with us today!