What Is DLP? Learn How To Prevent Cyber-Attacks!

DLP: Since cyberattacks are increasingly recurrent, information security is a widely discussed and priority strategy in the market. As a result, companies must be increasingly aware of security measures to protect user data. And one of these measures is the use of DLP.

By preventing attacks, the business ensures that employee and customer data does not fall into the hands of malicious parties. In this way, having a DLP solution — focused on preventing data theft — can help (and a lot) protect the institution.

Understand better about this technology and how it can help your company. Keep reading the article!

What Is DLP?

The acronym DLP stands for Data Loss Prevention or “Data Loss Prevention” in its literal translation. It is a set of tools and processes to ensure confidential data is not lost, misused or invaded.

DLP is a strategy with the primary objective of mitigating potential threats to critical data. The company can adhere to various data privacy and cybersecurity tools and practices through it. For example, one possibility is to adopt a multi-layered strategy, ensuring that confidential information remains behind a network firewall.

In addition, you can also create a preventive plan to review and update the business’s data storage and retention policies. Of course, all this complies with data protection laws, such as the GDPR.

What Is The Importance Of Adopting A DLP?

Recently, Unit 42, a team of researchers at Palo Alto Networks, reported that data hijackings — ransomware attacks — have increased by 144% in 2021.

The study also shows that about 85% of victims had their data disclosed on “dark web” sites. The main targets of criminals were legal services, construction, wholesale and retail, healthcare and manufacturing.

Corporate cyberattacks are increasing, and companies are primary potential targets. However, it is worth noting that both customers and suppliers provide information and expect its security.

In practice, losing this information can generate high losses, and fines are only part of the problem, as the breach of confidentiality makes the company lose its customer credibility.

Thus, it is necessary to invest in cybersecurity measures to remain prominent in the market and ensure credibility.

How Do DLP Solutions Work?

In short, DLP solutions monitor, detect and prevent sensitive data from leaving the organization’s system. In other words, the technology concentrates different blocking actions for an information bank.

Therefore, DLP’s work can be defined in two main tasks: identifying sensitive data that needs protection and triggering prevention and protection measures. It may seem simple, but it’s not.

The process of identifying which data needs protection is challenging without the use of a suitable tool. This is because the information can be present in several places in the IT infrastructure, such as:

In Use: Active Data In RAM, Cache Memory, Or CPU Registers;

On the move: Information may be being transmitted through an internal network, the cloud, or through a public internet network;

At rest: are those stored in a database, archived or saved in some backup?

What Are The Techniques Of A DLP Technology?

Without technology, the job of identifying information has to be done manually. This process can be time-consuming or even unfeasible. With the DLP tool, it is possible to adopt techniques that will help to mine all these elements. See some of them below.

Rule-Based Regular Expressions

The system uses an analysis technique based on specific rules. For example, numbers with 16 digits usually correspond to credit cards, while those with 11 digits refer to CPF numbers. In addition, the method adopts standards that facilitate the identification of this information.

Database Fingerprint

With this methodology, the engine analyzes exact matches for pre-provided structured data. That is, it identifies what is present in the database and considers the rest as what is in use or movement.

Exact File Match

With this DLP strategy, the system searches for documents based on a hashes function – an algorithm that maps extensive, variable-length data and “summarizes” it to a fixed dimension. Thus, the strategy is to group the information according to the exact file match rather than the contents themselves.

Partial Matching Of Documents

In this modality, a search is done for data corresponding to the previously defined standards – size, for example. In this case, fuzzy matching does not apply any changes to the data separation, which happens in the previous model.

Statistical Analysis

Some DLP solutions have machine learning. For example, Bayesian analysis — a methodology that evaluates hypotheses for maximum likelihood — triggers policy violations in specific content.

For this, a high volume of information is required to be digitized. The DLP tool scans data based on rules and separates it, creating ways to protect it through encryption.

What Are The Advantages Of A DLP Solution In The Company?

Now that you understand what DLP is and how the technology works let’s see what the benefits of this solution are next.

By adopting a DLP solution, your company ensures data protection and reviews and updates privacy and security policies. This way, when reviewing the processes, the manager finds possible security flaws more easily.

Ensuring The Protection Required By The LGPD

Organizations deal with a high volume of confidential data that must be under the protection and, with the GDPR in place, this care must be redoubled. Because if the company does not follow what is provided for by law, it can pay hefty fines and lose customers due to a lack of confidentiality. With DLP, the institution ensures the protection of this data by identifying, classifying and protecting it through encryption.

Protect Intellectual Property

Every organization has its negotiations and business strategies; protecting them means ensuring that the competition does not have access. Therefore, the DLP software also acts as a guardian of the business’s intellectual property. In addition, the engine monitors activities around this information and provides detailed reports for security audits.

Organize A Security Policy

By adopting a DLP solution, your company ensures data protection and reviews and updates privacy and security policies. This way, when reviewing the processes, the manager finds possible security flaws more easily.

The system works through programmed algorithms based on the company’s data security policy. Thus, it is possible to standardize cybersecurity measures, guaranteeing confidentiality and data integrity.

Improve Company Reputation

Adopting Data Loss Prevention technology can help build a positive business reputation. From the moment the organization applies cybersecurity measures, the brand image in the market improves. That’s because customers, suppliers and employees can ensure their information is protected.

How Can Ingram Help With Cybersecurity?

As we have seen, users’ personal and banking data have become criminals’ targets. One of the main methods used by them is to hack the systems of companies; with this, they can charge “ransoms”. Or even sell your institution’s business strategies to the competition.

Therefore, investing in data security is essential to protect your business. When choosing a DLP technology, count on Ingram Micro, the market leader in cybersecurity and technology; we have the best cybersecurity solutions.

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