DLP Rules – What Are They and Why You Need Them

PrivacySecurity
— July 19, 2022

DLP Rules – What Are They and Why You Need Them

In the business world of today, a data breach can cause damage of all kinds to a company. The repercussions of such an incident can include loss of customers and clients, damage to the brand and reputation, and of course, major financial losses. While it is impossible to completely eliminate risk altogether, there are many tools available that can be used to help decrease it. One such tool is what is known as Data Loss Prevention, or DLP. By implementing a DLP product(s), your organization can be sure it is taking a vital step towards protecting its data.

Before explaining how DLP technologies work, let’s first run through a few of the reasons why an organization would need DLP and explore what exactly DLP is. Data breaches have become commonplace in the news media, but generally these stories tend to focus on external attacks from criminals or governments. However, a data breach can (and does!) occur as a result of an insider threat too, even in cases where it is unintentional. These insider threats, along with an increase in sensitive data such as intangible assets and more compliance regulations to contend with, require a modern solution that organizations can leverage to protect themselves. DLP addresses all of these concerns.

DLP refers to a set of software tools and processes which work to ensure that sensitive or critical information is not lost, misused, or accessed without authorization. After data is prioritized and classified by an organization, DLP rules are set up that can monitor and control the intended or unintended sharing of data. If one of these rules is violated, then the DLP software will jump in to remediate the issue through protective actions such as alerts, permission denials, encryption, etc. For example, if an employee were to try to send an email containing a 16-digit credit card number, a DLP rule could detect that potentially sensitive information is attempting to be shared and then might notify the sender with a warning, alert the security team, or even prevent the email from being sent altogether. 

There are a variety of DLP deployment solutions that work to protect data at rest, in motion, and in use. Examples of the primary architectures are email, endpoint, network, discovery, and cloud DLP. Your organization may require the use of one, some, or all of these, so it is important to define your objectives and determine which are the most appropriate for your use case. In any case, DLP products work in two methods: contextual analysis, and content analysis based on string matches. Exploring the specifics of how these methodologies function can get quite technical and in-depth, so for now just realize that it involves things such as file checksum analysis and lexicon matches. 

In sum, as our world continues to collect and store ever-increasing amounts of data, it is more important than ever to take every step possible to minimize risk. Since total elimination of risk isn’t possible, making use of the tools available to help your organization be proactive in protecting its data should be a top priority. Don’t wait until it’s too late and the damage has already been done – take steps today to protect your data tomorrow. 

Let CyberData Pros help you understand where your data sits, access control, and how to protect that data. Contact us now for a free consultation and to learn more about our services.

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DocumentationPrivacySecurity
— July 14, 2022

Risk Assessments: What Are They and Do I Need One

As businesses grow, both in size and organizational complexity, so should the scope of their privacy and security efforts. This is an important lesson which many companies have had to unfortunately learn the hard way. But who among us can honestly blame them? The cybersecurity landscape can be VERY complicated. Penetration testing, data encryption, password management, user access controls, firewalls, domain administration, cloud servers, international data and privacy laws; these are just a fraction of things you have to consider when you start looking at your security posture. Heck, these days even your printer could be considered a cybersecurity risk!

So where do you start? You know you have to do something, but finding a place to start in such a vast and overwhelming space can be a barrier in and of itself. More often than not, simply understanding what you have that is at risk, and the factors that are putting you at risk, are the best first steps to put your company on the right path. Luckily the industry has a solution for this very scenario. Enter the cybersecurity risk assessment.

A risk assessment is a fantastic tool that takes a broad, contextual look into the privacy and security of your business, which can be simplified into three major objectives. The first objective is identifying information assets that could be targets of, or affected by a security breach. By understanding what assets are at risk to begin with, you can more easily focus on plans and important objectives for protecting them. This can also help you understand more about your privacy and security needs in general. Do you really need that expensive IPS your IT manager asked for? Should you be looking at ISO 270001 certification? Risk assessments can help answer those questions for you.

After identifying your assets, the second objective is identifying the risks to, or associated with, those assets. In other words, what risks do those assets come with, and what aspects of your company infrastructure could be putting those assets at risk. This can range from very technical things like firewall misconfigurations, or vulnerable software running on company servers, to less technical things like unlocked doors, and misplaced camera systems. This is the part of the assessment where you can start to see the work that needs to be done, and you can start prioritizing findings by criticality. This will tell you what findings are important and must be remedied immediately, or what might be considered minor and worth accepting if there are more important gaps to remedy first.

Once you understand your risks, the last major objective is of course, remediation. Starting with the most critical findings, a risk assessment will assign responsibility for these risks within the organization, as well as goals and guidance for mitigating them. Sometimes referred to as a ‘Treatment Plan’, having clear and concise documentation of the issues at hand drastically reduces the time it can take to alleviate them. Assigning responsibility for these risks also creates a sense of ownership and accountability within the organization to ensure these are not only fixed quickly, but are maintained over time. 

While risk assessments are phenomenal for newer businesses just getting started on building their cybersecurity infrastructure, they are also incredibly important for established security teams as well. Regular risk assessments allow your company to track progress, quantify improvements made, and continue to identify new opportunities for improvement as you change and grow. This ensures that as new clients join, or new services are offered, you can maintain a comfortable footing within your risk management structure, as well as a potential competitive advantage over others in your space. As the data privacy and security requirements for the biggest companies in the world continues to grow, due diligence and proactive tactics that show your organization is committed to handling their data responsibly and securely can make all the difference when they are deciding who gets that next big contract.

Let CyberData Pros conduct a Risk Assessment for your business and help identify any data privacy/security gaps that may exist. Contact us now for a free consultation and to learn more about our services.

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