What is Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Software? A Beginner’s Guide for Businesses

From customer data and financial records to other sensitive information, the data your organization collects is frequently its most valuable asset. Unfortunately, these valuable data are also a primary target for internal and external threats, and this is where DLP (Data Loss Prevention) software comes into play. 

DLP software protects your vital information. It is intended to identify, monitor, and block unauthorized use, transmission, or loss of your sensitive information. In this easy tutorial, we will explore all about DLP and why it is now more critical to organizations of any size. 

What does DLP software actually do? 

Firstly, DLP software will understand the content and context of your data. DLP works by: 

Data Identification and Classification: When DLP software analyzes your organization’s data, the first thing it needs to do is identify what kind of organizational data is considered sensitive. This could be personally identifiable information (PII), financial information, trade secrets, health information, etc. Here, DLP will help you outline key identifiers/markers of sensitive data. DLP will leverage several approaches, including content analysis, keyword matching, and even machine learning, to tag data based on its sensitivity level. 

Monitoring Data Use: After the sensitive data is identified, the DLP software will track the use of this data and where it is being used across your network, endpoints (like employee endpoints), and cloud applications. For everything that you authorize or are monitoring, DLP software will monitor actions such as copying, pasting, printing, emailing, and uploading files.  

Policy Enforcement: This is the “prevention” aspect, where you define policies for how sensitive data can and cannot be used. For instance, you might want to have a policy that prevents employees from emailing customer PII in a document to an external address. When a user takes an action that violates a policy you’ve set, the DLP software will take some action, like: 

• Block the action- stop the organization from unauthorized transfer or use of the data. 

• Notify the Administrator- alert security personnel that a policy was violated. 

• Encrypting data- encrypt sensitive data automatically, whether at rest or in transit. 

• Quarantine files- isolate files that could be dangerous. 

• Educate the user- give the users notice that they have violated policy, with recommended actions to bring them back into compliance. 

Why should you care about DLP for your business?  

There are many advantages to implementing DLP solutions for businesses.  

• Data Protection and Data Loss Prevention – DLP’s primary function is to block sensitive information from reaching a person, intentionally or inadvertently, and help in preventing your organization from paying for data breaches, reputational damage, and penalties. 

• Regulatory Compliance – There are regulatory compliance features for most industries when it comes to data protection, like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc. DLP can assist in an organization’s compliance with the use of controls and visibility. The tool can assist in showing compliance by having the necessary software controls. 

• Protecting Intellectual Property – DLP can help protect trade secrets and prevent their exfiltration by competitors. If your business is built on unique innovation, DLP will help you prevent attackers and insiders from stealing that information. 

• Improved Data Visibility – In order to manage risk in an information governance strategy, DLP can provide context on where and how your sensitive data is being used/processed.  

• Security Awareness – DLP can help promote security awareness and develop a culture of conscious consumers when users or employees are alerted that they’ve attempted to breach a data handling policy. 

• Supporting Incident Response- In case a potential data loss occurs, having DLP software will help provide context and will give your security team logs that can assist them in recovering from the incident quicker and more effectively. 

How DLP Software Functions in Real Life 

Consider a common example of an employee attempting to email a spreadsheet containing customer social security numbers to their personal email address. DLP systems that recognize social security numbers as sensitive data and that have a policy preventing outside sharing of sensitive data would probably: 

• Recognize the sensitive data contained in the email attachment. 

• Recognize the action of sending sensitive data out to an external domain.  

Enforce the policy by either blocking the email from being sent/or alerting the security administrator that there was an attempt to share sensitive data. The employee may also get an alert to notify them why their email was blocked from transmission. 

Next Steps for DLP Implementation 

To effectively utilize DLP, it’s important to know that you are not simply going to install some software and be finished. Here are some things to do first for organizations thinking of utilizing DLP: 

• Identify Sensitive Data: Determine what information the organization needs to safeguard most, such as the laws you must comply with. 

• Define your data handling policy: Develop clear policy guidelines for sensitive data use, storage, and transmission. 

• Choose an appropriate DLP solution: There are many different types of DLP solutions with various features and deployment options (on-prem, network, cloud). Choose one that best meets your organization’s requirements and the existing environment. 

• Implement and adjust: Implement the DLP software, which will require configuring it with your identified data and data policies. Once you have been monitoring for a while, you will need to adjust your data policies to ensure you get the best results while limiting disruption. 

• Train Employees: Ensure your staff is aware and understands the data handling policies as well as the DLP software. 

Conclusion 

In an ever-changing world where data breaches become more common and costly every day, Data Loss Prevention software is a must-have for any organization that handles sensitive data. It allows an organization to discover, monitor, and control its data so it can preserve its most valued asset, keep compliant with regulations, and build trust with its customers. While there is thoughtfulness in planning and implementing a DLP system, the security you will achieve against data loss makes DLP software a necessary purchase for the security and sustainability of your business.