Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is one of the strategies that businesses implement for the purpose of ensuring that their sensitive data is not accessed by unauthorised users and individuals. For businesses that are either looking to ensure that sensitive information does not get out of their corporate network, as a result of the negligence of the end users, or wish for the assurance that their data will not be accessed by the people it’s not intended for, data loss prevention can serve to be an effective strategy. Data loss prevention is often done through software applications that aid a network administrator in controlling what users are able to transfer.
Why Businesses Need Data Loss Prevention Software
Now that we know what the purpose of data loss prevention software is, let’s take a look at the driving forces behind the need for businesses to adopt such software applications. Here is an account of the most common for them:
Ease of Access
With the progress of science and technology, the interaction between everyone involved in a business has become much easier. Gone are the days when everyone—from the employees to the customers to the partners—needed to be present at the office for things to roll on. People are allowed by businesses to work on and off the network, on their corporate and personal devices. While such a scenario not only boosts productivity for the businesses but adds to the comfort of the employees as well, the fact of the matter is that it gives to a vast number of risks that businesses have got to contend with. As the partners, employees, customers and contractors are able to manipulate data from wherever they might be; it puts the sensitive data at severe risk. One wrong click, for example, and the data can be compromised. The usage of data loss prevention software—under such a scenario—can accomplish wonders for protecting the data of a business.
The Usage of Email
The email is, perhaps, the most important tool when it comes to the communication systems of the various organisations, in the contemporary world. Large amounts of data are shared within the organisations through the use of emails. A majority of the businesses have got corporate policies in place for ensuring that the risk to the corporate sensitive data is minimised. However, it would be nothing short of foolish for a business to bank on all of its employees abiding by the set policies and, therefore, not choosing to have a data loss prevention strategy in place. Data loss prevention tools and software have got the capability of safeguarding the email communications of businesses, without hindering the work productivity.
The Legal Aspect
The frequency of data breaches has been rising at an alarming rate. Such data breaches can, absolutely, bring businesses to their knees, owing to the bad publicity, loss of customers, fines and legal actions that follow. There are a number of laws and regulations that have been put in place by the authorities for ensuring that the frequency of such data breaches is reduced as much as possible. These requirements are there so that the businesses pay more attention to the sides that are often forgotten: data security. As is often the case, data thieves only require a minute or two to compromise the system and steal the data. However, businesses can sometimes take a week—or even months—to even know that a breach has occurred, let alone take care of it. There have been such cases in the past where businesses remained oblivious to their compromised data to the very end, considering how it was either the customers or law enforcement agencies that sounded the alarm. If a business doesn’t invest in data loss prevention strategies, nowadays, they can be sure to face some legal action, in case their data is compromised.
The Employee Conduct
Did you think that your data was at risk because of the unauthorised personnel on the outside of your organisation? If the answer is yes, then you are certainly mistaken. It is because the people on the inside of your organisation present a significant risk to the security of your data as well. While there is every chance of the risk to be intentional, there is a high chance that the risk from the employees might be unintentional as well. For instance, consider an employee who emails all of their work from the work account to their personal account so that they might be able to work through the weekend. Their intentions are good, no doubt, but that doesn’t, at all, mean that it will not put the data at risk. There might be a scenario in which you might lose data, owing to an employee’s negligence also. Under such a scenario, you can make use of retail data recovery software, such as Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery and Minitool. These are the best data recovery software that you can choose from!
Implementing Data Loss Prevention
When it comes to the implementation of data loss prevention strategy, here’s what businesses can do:
Prioritise Data
One of the first things that businesses need to do is Prioritise data that is sensitive and needs to be protected. Protecting every bit of data will not only be foolish will not only be foolish but expensive as well.
Understand the Risks
Businesses also need to understand the kind of risks posed to their data as well. This is the only way for them to mitigate it.
Monitor Data Movement
It is imperative for businesses to understand how data is moved and used within the organisation. This is the only manner in which they can ensure that they are able to mitigate the risk of loss without hindering the use of data.
Develop Controls
Once an understanding has been gained, it is time to implement the necessary internal controls and policies for the protection of your data. It is highly recommended for you to make use of the software applications and tools as well.
Train Your Employees
If you are to have a truly foolproof system of data loss prevention, it is necessary for you to take your employees on board and train them also.
If you wish to implement a data loss prevention strategy in your organisation then you will need to alter the strategy to reflect the needs of your organization, considering how it would be disastrous to implement a generalized strategy. Remember: the best data loss prevention strategies make use of a variety of tools and software, ranging from data loss prevention to data recovery.
