The Ultimate Guide to Data Loss Prevention

What Is Data Loss Prevention?

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions comprise of the tools used with the supporting DLP strategies of the organization to help prevent and mitigate data breaches and data leaks that maliciously take, destroy, or lock access to sensitive data. Since the accelerated shift to work from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, data breaches have increased significantly in frequency as both an internal and external threat. This raises the importance of implementing a DLP solution and strategy for organizations and businesses big and small.

In this blog post, we will discuss the main actions of DLP solutions, the main threats that can incur data loss, and the best ways to roll out a comprehensive DLP strategy in support of a DLP solution.

The Main Actions of DLP

The following actions are the primary goals of an effective DLP solution:

Protect Data at Rest

DLP solutions help enforce access control, encryption, and data retention policies for archived data, otherwise known as data at rest. Sensitive data stored for legal compliance, intellectual property, and confidential information are common examples of data at rest. DLP solutions enforce a layer of protection for this stored data to guard against and detect unauthorized access.

Detect Data Leaks

DLP solutions help monitor data usage to detect and prevent data leaks in real-time. A data leak can be stopped in its tracks by the DLP solution and alert the IT security staff of the attempted data leak in the process. In essence, DLP solutions enable an active and fast response to a data leak as it occurs.

Identify Data

DLP solutions help identify the data in possession of an organization, especially to pinpoint and isolate the sensitive data at rest or in use. This identification enables the DLP solution to apply data protections where they are needed the most. Data identification can either be processed manually by the organization or applied automatically by the tools provided by the DLP solution.

Secure Endpoints to Protect Data in Use

Data in use, otherwise known as regularly accessed data, depends on endpoint security provided by DLP solutions to protect against data loss while a user accesses the data for their task. This layer of protection can detect, then flag unauthorized activity conducted by users, whether intentional or not.

Threats to DLP

DLP solutions, as well as the DLP strategy rolled out by an organization, most often defend against the following vectors of potential data loss:

Email Threats

Attackers often send email to an unsuspecting user to attempt a phishing attack. Using social engineering, the phishing e-mail can dupe a user into opening a malicious link or attachment to steal user data, install malware, and even freeze their system as part of a ransomware attack. A user’s system and credentials can quickly become the launch-point of a broader security breach as a result.

DLP solutions help flag or filter suspicious e-mails and attachments for a possible phishing attack. The DLP strategy of an organization also helps train users to avoid opening suspicious links and attachments.

Insider Threats

Threats of data loss can occur from within an organization. An attacker with a compromised user account or an employee of the organization with malicious intent can leverage user permissions to access, destroy, and move sensitive data. This sort of attack can be very difficult to detect as a result.

DLP solutions help enforce user access control and monitor data usage for unusual transfers. In the event of an insider attack, such tools empower an organization to quickly respond to the threat.

External Threats

Data loss threats from the outside do not occur only through e-mails and compromised user accounts. Employees can also open external vectors of attack by theft of devices with data, opening public internet access to data, and not properly restricting access to said data.

DLP solutions can implement an intrusion detection system to detect an external attack, enforce access control per organization policy, and encrypt sensitive data in use or at rest. DLP strategies in turn promote best practices for the safekeeping of issued devices and the due diligence of setting proper access to sensitive data.

The Cost of Data Loss

A data breach aimed at taking, destroying, or locking access to sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information, regulated information, data in use, and confidential information can incur a high cost for an organization and their members. These costs are various, but include:

• Severe downtime incurred by the loss of critical in-use data and subsequent recovery
• Legal liability for regulated data left exposed to a data breach
• Loss of trust with customers, clients, and organization members
• Compromised confidential information

The resulting financial cost incurred by data loss can not only number in the millions of dollars per incident but also inflict long-term financial damage for years. Investing in an effective DLP solution backed by a comprehensive DLP strategy helps minimize financial damage, stay in compliance, protect confidential information, and preserve trust.

Deploying a Data Loss Prevention Strategy

A comprehensive DLP strategy must be used in tandem with a DLP solution to make the most of what a DLP solution can do for an organization’s data. DLP strategies also help to promote ongoing and best practices among employees to prevent or mitigate a data breach. When investing in a DLP solution, consider the following steps as part of your DLP strategy and solution deployment.

Prioritize Data

Organizations must determine the most valuable and sensitive data in possession that mandates a DLP strategy. Knowing what data to make part of the DLP strategy beforehand makes seeking data for classification an easier task.

Classify Data

Once an organization knows what data must be prioritized for DLP, classification of that data helps the DLP solution apply the level of protection determined by the DLP strategy. This process is especially helpful for unstructured data in a repository that needs to be scanned and analyzed for sensitive data.

Determine When Data is at Risk

DLP strategies must assess the workflow of accessed data in an organization to pinpoint when said data is at its greatest risk of a data breach, such as at an endpoint. If sensitive data is being shared by very open means such as an e-mail attachment, DLP strategies must promote a more secure method of data access, while DLP solutions must safeguard against such methods when that risk is too high for the data involved.

Monitor Data Movement

DLP solutions can help IT security personnel monitor data usage. Effective monitoring can provide a more insightful view of how employees handle sensitive data, so that a DLP strategy in turn can focus on widespread issues to train users and minimize the risk of a data breach. Such monitoring also helps to identify a potential data leak as it happens.

Communicate and Develop Controls

Communication with managers must be part of the DLP strategy to effectively begin and mature deployment of DLP controls from a DLP solution. Such stakeholders are crucial to help raise awareness of the DLP strategy amongst employees for easier adoption of best practices. Managers can also help identify the specific risks on the field to target with DLP controls.

Train Employees

Security awareness programs and user training can mitigate the risk of accidental data loss by employees on an ongoing basis. Knowing the signs of a data loss risk can help employees spot risk indicators and act accordingly. In turn, DLP solutions can help prompt employees as a safeguard when a potential risk of data loss is detected in the user’s system.

Roll Out Your Plan

DLP strategies are an ongoing process. A phased and targeted rollout of the DLP solution helps the DLP strategy establish both short-term and long-term goals to meet its overall objectives. This lets a DLP solution grow over time to implement the comprehensive DLP strategy that an organization needs to ultimately guard against and mitigate data loss.

Use Classify360 in Your DLP Strategy

Classify360 complements DLP solutions with data classification, risk analysis, and automated management tools. The data governance provided by Classify360 can enhance the capabilities of a DLP solution, and in turn can have a crucial role in implementing your organization’s DLP strategy.

Classify360 can identify and classify sensitive data within an organization for protection, inject metatags configured for your organization, and move data to a secure location. DLP solutions can use those same metatags injected by Classify360 to enforce security standards and control requirements as per the organization’s needs. Classify360 can automate this process to govern both new and archived data and keep the scope of the DLP solution up to date.

Without identifying and classifying data, organizations cannot effectively move forward with a DLP strategy. Classify360 helps you take the first step.