Data Loss Prevention (DLP): A Comprehensive Guide for IT Leaders

A data loss prevention (DLP) solution ensures that sensitive data isn’t shared with unauthorized recipients. It is a critical component of a corporate data security strategy since it helps organizations maintain visibility and control over sensitive data in their care and comply with regulatory requirements.

How DLP Technologies Work

The primary goal of DLP solutions is to block potential leakages of sensitive data to unauthorized parties. To accomplish this, they must identify data that requires protection and enforce corporate policies regarding how it can be shared.

Content Inspection Techniques

While some data is well-structured, making it easy to classify, organizations also have large volumes of unstructured data to protect. For example, documents and emails may contain sensitive data that needs to be protected.

DLP solutions use various techniques to identify this data, such as:

• Pattern Matching and Regular Expressions: Many types of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, phone numbers, and government identification numbers, have a set format. DLP solutions can use pattern matching and regular expressions to identify data matching this format, enabling it to apply classification policies.
• Machine Learning: Machine learning algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) enable computers to understand written text. This allows them to identify sensitive data based on context and classify it appropriately.

Data Fingerprinting and Tagging

Data fingerprinting and tagging aid in the detection and remediation of unauthorized flows of sensitive data. A fingerprint is defined to determine certain types of sensitive data, which can then be identified and tagged within an organization’s DLP system. This helps to establish which policies and security controls should be applied to the tagged data.

Policy Enforcement Mechanisms

DLP solutions need the ability to enforce corporate policies, which means that they must be able to block unapproved communications. Typically, DLP capabilities are built into network firewalls or installed on endpoints where they have the power to inspect and block network traffic.

Types of DLP Solutions

Network DLP

Network DLP solutions may be incorporated into next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) and other network security solutions. As part of their inspection process, these solutions can check for content violating corporate data security policies and take appropriate action.

Endpoint DLP

DLP capabilities can also be installed on an endpoint and enforce corporate policies for that endpoint. For example, all attempts to transfer sensitive data off of a device — via email, cloud storage, entering it into a webpage, etc. — will be monitored by the endpoint DLP solution.

Cloud DLP

Cloud DLP solutions are intended to protect sensitive cloud data against unauthorized access and potential exposure. They can integrate with various cloud platforms to enable monitoring of cloud data without the need to install software agents. Additionally, cloud-native solutions are highly scalable, which can be valuable if the volume of data being transferred or processed increases.

Integrated DLP Platforms

Integrated DLP platforms provide DLP capabilities across an organization’s entire environment, including cloud infrastructure, SaaS apps, and on-prem environments. This approach helps to limit potential visibility and security gaps due to siloed solutions and simplified policy management and enforcement across the entire corporate IT environment.

Key Features of Modern DLP Solutions

Data Discovery and Classification

Most companies have large amounts of data, and more is created all the time. Some of this data may be sensitive and require special protections, while others may not. The first step in the DLP process is identifying the data that a company has in its possession and classifying it so that the appropriate security controls and policies can be applied.

Real-time Monitoring and Alerting

DLP solutions are designed to prevent data leaks, which means they require real-time visibility into data flows. Based on their analysis, the DLP solution may have the ability to block unapproved transmissions or may generate an alert so that security personnel can take action to manage the potential breach.

Policy Management and Customization

Different organizations have varying regulatory responsibilities and security needs. While built-in policies may provide coverage for common types of sensitive data, a company may also have other types of data that it needs to protect. The ability to manage and customize policies based on organizational needs is a vital component of a DLP solution.

Incident Response and Remediation

Ideally, DLP will block all data leaks; however, this isn’t always the case. If sensitive data is transmitted to an unauthorized recipient, the organization also needs tools to perform incident investigation and remediation.

Implementing DLP: Best Practices for IT Leaders

Assessing Data Protection Needs

Data protection needs vary from organization to organization. Some companies have greater access to sensitive data or operate in highly regulated industries, such as finance or healthcare. Others may outsource the management of sensitive information, such as using a third-party vendor for credit card processing.

When implementing DLP, it’s important to first assess an organization’s data protection needs. This enables IT leaders to design and implement strategies tailored to their security and compliance needs.

Developing a Comprehensive DLP Strategy

Companies have data in various places, and sensitive data can easily slip through the cracks. For example, backups may contain highly sensitive data but lack the same level of protection as the original copy of the data.

When designing a DLP strategy, it’s important to consider all data sources and potential threats to them. DLP strategies should cover all of an organization’s sensitive data and consider the various ways that it could be exfiltrated (email, cloud, etc.).

DLP Policy Creation and Management

The effectiveness of a DLP strategy and deployment is determined by its policies. Organizations should develop policies based on their security needs and perform regular monitoring and reviews to ensure alignment. Additional reviews should be performed in the wake of any leaks or security incidents to determine whether policies should be updated to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

Change Management and User Training

While technology is critical to a DLP strategy, policies and training are equally important. As part of a DLP strategy, organizations should implement change management policies to ensure that new tools or configurations don’t introduce opportunities for data leaks. Employee training is also essential because it can help to prevent users from attempting to bypass security controls or take other actions that place corporate data at risk.

DLP for Specific Industries and Use Cases

Healthcare: HIPAA Compliance and Patient Data Protection

Healthcare data includes numerous types of sensitive information, including health data, payment card information, and other data. In the U.S., this data is protected under HIPAA, which imposes certain requirements and security controls on healthcare providers and their business associates. For healthcare organizations, DLP policy should be compliant with HIPAA and other applicable laws.

Finance: Protecting Sensitive Financial Information

The financial industry is subject to numerous regulations designed to protect against financial fraud and the exposure of potentially sensitive information. DLP policies are important in this sector because leaked information could lead to insider trading and other fraudulent activities. IT leaders will need to ensure that requirements are aligned with an organization’s varying regulatory responsibilities.

Addressing Insider Threats with DLP

Insider threats can be created through intentional actions or accidents. DLP policies can help reduce the potential for insider threats by ensuring that access to sensitive information is limited to those who have authorization to view it. By limiting users’ access to data, an organization decreases the potential for it to be leaked—intentionally or otherwise.

Integrating DLP with Other Security Technologies

DLP and XDR: Enhanced Threat Detection

Combining DLP and extended detection and response (XDR) enhances an organization’s ability to identify and respond to potential threats to its data. Correlating data from the two sources — information on potential data leaks and threat data from XDR solutions — provides additional context for incident response efforts.

Combining DLP with EDR for Endpoint Protection

DLP can be deployed on individual endpoints and provides capabilities that complement those of endpoint detection and response (EDR). EDR provides visibility into threats and activity on endpoints, while DLP offers insight into data-related activities. Together, they provide enhanced endpoint protection for sensitive data located on an organization’s systems.

DLP and CASB: Securing Cloud Applications

DLP and cloud access security brokers (CASB) are both designed to help enforce corporate security and access policies but with slightly different areas of focus. Integrating the two solutions provides greater visibility into an organization’s cloud data usage and the ability to better protect cloud data against unauthorized access and exposure.

Emerging Trends in Data Loss Prevention

AI and Machine Learning in DLP

One of the biggest challenges in DLP is identifying sensitive information and responding appropriately to potential leaks. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) have the potential to more accurately identify sensitive data and determine whether the recipient is authorized, reducing the potential risk to the organization.

Cloud-native DLP Solutions

As organizations increasingly move sensitive data to cloud environments, deploying DLP and other cloud security capabilities in these environments becomes more essential. Cloud-native DLP solutions have this location advantage as well as the scalability to provide effective protection as the volume of data entering and leaving corporate networks continues to increase.

DLP for Remote and Hybrid Workforces

The growth of remote and hybrid work introduces the potential that sensitive information might be leaked from off-site devices. DLP solutions installed on the endpoints of remote workers can help to prevent this by monitoring these devices and ensuring that sensitive data is not leaked without the organization’s knowledge.

Measuring DLP Effectiveness and ROI

Key Performance Indicators for DLP

DLP solutions are designed to enforce corporate data security policies and protect against leaks and breaches. Some metrics that an organization can use to gauge their effectiveness include:

• Number and cost of data breaches.
• Mean time to remediation (MTTR) for data security incidents.
• Number of corporate policy violations that are identified and remediated.

Calculating the Business Impact of DLP Implementation

DLP solutions can help the company save money in several ways. Preventing data breaches protects the organization against the costs of identifying, investigating, and remediating these incidents. Additionally, DLP is critical to compliance with many regulations, and implementing it can help reduce the risk of compliance penalties and legal fees.

DLP implementations can also create more indirect cost savings for the organization. For example, preventing data breaches may help to protect the organization’s brand reputation, which can translate into increased sales and reduced customer churn.

Benchmarks and Industry Standards

More generally, an organization can measure the effectiveness of its DLP strategy against its industry peers or trusted standards and frameworks, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF). The company can also gauge its progress in implementing DLP based on a continuous improvement strategy designed to reduce data leakages and improve adherence to corporate policies and regulatory requirements.

Challenges and Considerations in DLP Deployment

Balancing Security with User Productivity

DLP is designed to enhance security by limiting unauthorized access to sensitive data in the company’s possession. However, it also runs the risk of negatively impacting employee productivity if requests are denied incorrectly or if the process of evaluating requests is especially time-consuming. IT leaders should ensure that policies are designed to meet business needs, regularly reviewed, and supported by scalable security technologies.

Addressing False Positives and Negatives

False positive detections could block legitimate data flows, while false negatives could allow sensitive data to leak to unauthorized users. Both of these situations can harm the business and should be considered when defining and implementing a DLP strategy. The use of advanced technologies such as AI/ML can help to reduce these risks, as can regular policy reviews and tuning.

Scalability and Performance Concerns

To effectively protect the organization against internal and external threats, all data flows must pass through the DLP solution. This can create potential issues related to solution scalability and performance if volumes grow too large. The use of cloud-native solutions can help to mitigate these concerns since these solutions have the potential to rapidly scale to meet increased demand.

Conclusion

DLP is a critical component of a corporate cybersecurity strategy that helps ensure compliance with corporate policies and regulatory requirements. When designing and implementing a DLP strategy, IT teams should ensure alignment with these requirements and select solutions that provide robust, comprehensive protection across the entire organization.
As corporate environments and cyber threats evolve, a culture of continuous improvement is essential for effective DLP. IT teams should regularly review data security policies and DLP infrastructure to ensure that they continue to meet the business’s needs. For organizations with hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure and remote workers, an integrated DLP solution is likely the best choice. Learn more about ensuring data security and protecting against other threats with Cato SASE Cloud.