Explore how DLP products secure enterprise data and these seven specialized vendors that provide protection through varying installation, platforms and features.
By Kevin Tolly,
Data loss prevention, or DLP, is becoming an essential part of enterprise security software.
While core DLP functionality is available in all DLP tools, key differences separate the vendors featured in this review. For example, some provide cross-platform DLP, whereas others support Windows clients only. Many companies are U.S.-based, but some are headquartered in other countries, such as Russia and Romania, which may pose a problem for certain companies or U.S. government entities required to purchase from U.S.-based suppliers only.
A vendor’s background, focus and acquisition activities are important factors to consider as they could indicate what kind of partner your potential supplier will be in the coming years. Security, like most IT infrastructure purchases, is a long-term commitment.
Product elements
A major decision point is whether to use an agent-based, or endpoint, DLP deployment versus an agentless, or network-based, platform.
Network-based DLPs work hand in hand with a company’s firewall to inspect — and possibly interdict –traffic leaving the internal network. Because no agents are necessary, deploying a network-based DLP can be simpler than an agent-based one. But agent-based DLPs perform a crucial role a network-based alternative doesn’t: Only an agent-based system can detect data that might be exfiltrated to local devices, such as USB drives or printers. As a result, it might be difficult for administrators to provide a comprehensive DLP platform while relying on just a network-based deployment.
All the vendors listed below offer agent-based systems; a few also sell network-based options.
Another issue is a product’s comprehensiveness. All DLP products can process text files and Excel documents. Data within these documents — structured data — is relatively easy to protect. Less structured data, as well as information that resides in image files, poses more of a challenge. If protecting sensitive images within documents is important to you, then look for a DLP vendor that supports optical character recognition (OCR).
Just like with antivirus tools, false positives can be a risk with DLP products that are overly sensitive and detect everyday work as exfiltration threats. These false alarms can frustrate users and overwhelm security staff. Unlike most security methods, there is no standard process for implementing DLP, so the approaches — and outcomes — can differ widely across vendors.
Next, consider the product’s ease of installation and effectiveness.
Buyers should ensure prospective vendors clearly describe their installation processes and what users can achieve with a newly installed system. If the vendor does not provide data templates, that may indicate that users cannot do anything until they define the data they need to protect.
DLP configuration is challenging because the system must identify the sensitive data to track, so creating templates and configuring data tracking policies are a big part of the installation process. It can speed up the process significantly if the vendor provides prebuilt policy templates that match an organization’s needs. If companies need to handcode templates to pinpoint the data they want to track and protect, the rollout process may drag out.
To help avoid potential pitfalls, companies should design a proof of concept, using actual data, to gauge a product’s effectiveness. This will help prevent companies from wasting time and money on a system that turns out to be insufficient.
Somansa
Founded in 1997, U.S.-based Somansa Technologies specializes in DLP, offering both agent-based endpoint and agentless products.
The agent-based offerings provide core features, including support for USB devices, Wi-Fi and printing. The company provides cross-platform support, as well as support for Android-powered mobile devices.
Another DLP product, Server-i, focuses on servers and databases and can search structured databases to locate and protect sensitive data. Supported databases include Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL and Sybase running on HP-UX, Solaris, AIX and Linux.
DLP Mail-i and Privacy-i focus on endpoints, with both products engineered for either on-premises or cloud-based deployment. Supported data channels include local, network and external disk; email; printers; print screens; FTP; and HTTP, and it can monitor cloud services, web apps, storage platforms, SharePoint, file servers and databases.
Somansa offers predefined and customizable templates.
Pricing: Contact company directly.
For full article: https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/feature/Explore-7-data-loss-prevention-tools-for-utmost-security