Choosing endpoint DLP agents

There is a lot to be said for preventing data loss at the point of use but if you are considering endpoint DLP (data loss prevention), I recommend against buying and deploying an integrated DLP/Anti-virus end-point security agent.  This is for 4 reasons: Bloatware/system resource consumption – if you’re concerned with anti-virus system resource usage, […]

Cultural factors in DLP

What is interesting and generally overlooked – is the cultural differences between the US and the rest of the world.  The Europeans prefer a more nuanced approach stressing discipline and procedures,The Americans are compliance driven and IT top heavy, I imagine if you look at DLP sales – 98% are in the US, being (right or […]

Do you have a business need for DLP?

To be able to do something before it exists, sense before it becomes active, and see before it sprouts. The Book of Balance and Harmony (Chung-ho chi). A medieval Taoist book Will security vendors, large to small  (Symantec, Mcafee, nexTier, ANBsys and others..) succeed in restoring balance and harmony to their customers by relabeling their product suites as unified content […]

How can we convince our VP that a network-based DLP makes sense?

My colleague, Michel Godet – sent me a link to an article that Mike Rothman recently wrote. Michel  (rightly) thinks that it supports the approach that we have been pushing in Europe for over a year now, to justify data security technology investments by using Value at Risk calculations. Mike’s article – building a business […]

Free agent DLP from Sophos

Sophos has announced that they will soon include endpoint data loss prevention functionality in their anti-virus software. Developed in-house, Sophos will have an independent offering – unlike Websense, RSA, Symantec, Trend Micro and McAfee (who all purchased DLP technology) and have integrated it into their product lines with various levels of success (or not). The […]

DLP – a Disturbing Lack of Process?

Ted Ritter has suggested that we rename DLP a Disturbing Lack of Process Indeed DLP is not a well-defined term – since so many vendors (Kaspersky anti-virus, McAfee anti-virus, Symantec anti-virus, Trend Micro Provilla, CA Backup…you name it) have labeled their products “Data loss prevention” products in an attempt to turn the tide of data […]

Is PCI DSS a failure?

A recent Ponemon survey found 71% of companies don’t consider PCI as strategic though 79% had experienced a breach. Are these companies assuming that a data security breach is cheaper than the security? How should we understand the Ponemon survey.  Is PCI DSS a failure in the eyes of US companies? Let’s put aside the technical […]

Trusted insider threats, fact and fiction

Richard Stiennon is a well known and respected IT analyst – he has a blog called IT Harvest. A recent post had to do with Trusted insider threats.Despite the length of the article, I believe that the article has a number of fundamental flaws: Overestimating  the value of identity and access management in mitigating trusted […]

Is data loss prevention possible?

I recently saw an article on Computerweekly that asks – “Is data loss prevention possible?” I think that a more relevant question is “Is information protection possible?” The  author correctly identifies that it’s easier to access data (and leak it) than to modify or delete data.  However, the notion that data is out of control […]