DATA LOSS PREVENTION POLICY & OPERATIONS
Most businesses have a data loss prevention policy to safeguard their confidential and proprietary information. However, even with these policies in place, data breaches can still occur. So, what can businesses do to protect themselves from data breaches? Implementing a data loss prevention policy is a good start. However, businesses must also ensure these policies operate effectively.
What Is a Data Loss Prevention Policy?
A data loss prevention policy is a set of rules and procedures to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in an organization's computer networks and systems. The policy specifies the types of sensitive data and how to keep it safe. It also identifies the individuals in charge of enforcing and implementing the policy.
Why You Need a Data Loss Prevention Policy
Most businesses have a data loss prevention policy to safeguard their confidential and proprietary information. However, even with these policies in place, data breaches can still occur. So, what can businesses do to protect themselves from data breaches? Implementing a data loss prevention policy is a good start. However, businesses must also ensure these policies operate effectively.
One of the most difficult challenges for any organization is protecting its data from accidental or unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction. This isn't easy in an age when more and more employees work remotely, save on cloud storage, and have access to sensitive data from mobile devices. As a result, organizations must have a data loss prevention policy outlining how to protect organization data and what to do in the event of a breach.
- To protect your organization's sensitive data: A data loss prevention policy can help ensure that your organization's sensitive data is safe from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction.
Comply with data privacy laws and regulations: In many jurisdictions, organizations need to take steps to protect the personal data of their employees, patients, and other individuals. - To avoid the financial and reputational costs: A data loss prevention policy can help reduce the financial and reputational costs associated with a data breach.
Fostering a data security culture: A data loss prevention policy, along with proper HIPAA Privacy and Security policies, can help promote a data security culture within your organization by making employees aware of their responsibility to protect sensitive data. - To improve your organization's overall security: A data loss prevention policy can help improve your security posture by identifying and addressing potential weak points in your security defenses.
How Does DLP Work?
DLP works by identifying and protecting sensitive information as it gets created, sent, received, or stored. DLP can help prevent data leaks by blocking the transmission of sensitive information outside the organization. It can also help monitor and track the use of sensitive information within the organization.
Most DLP solutions work in one or more of the following ways:
- Content inspection: DLP solutions search the content of files and emails for sensitive information. The process does this through pattern matching, which looks for known patterns in sensitive data or by using keywords or regular expressions.
- Context analysis: DLP solutions examine the context of the data to determine whether it is sensitive.
- Contextual information can include the source and destination of the data, the type of the data, and who has access to the data.
- User activity monitoring: DLP solutions monitor user activity to determine whether sensitive data gets accessed or misused. The system does this by tracking which users access sensitive data, when, and how they use it.
Types of Data Loss Prevention Software
Most businesses have a data loss prevention policy to safeguard their confidential and proprietary information. However, even with these policies in place, data breaches can still occur. So, what can businesses do to protect themselves from data breaches? Implementing a data loss prevention policy is a good start. However, businesses must also ensure these policies operate effectively.
Companies can protect their data with various types of data loss prevention software. Each tool has advantages and disadvantages, so it is critical to understand your company's requirements before selecting a tool. Among the most common types of the software include:
- Endpoint security - This type of software gets installed on individual computers and devices in your network. It works to prevent data loss by monitoring activity and blocking unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Network security - This type of software helps to protect your entire network from data loss. It can help to monitor traffic and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Data encryption - This software encrypts data to prevent unauthorized users from accessing it.
- Data backup and recovery - This software creates a backup of your data if you lose it or it gets corrupted. It can also help to recover lost data.
- Storage DLP - This type of software helps to protect data stored on servers and other storage devices. It can also help monitor activity and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Application security - This type of software helps to protect applications from data loss. It can also help monitor activity and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Best Practices for Creating a Successful DLP Policy
Implementing a data loss prevention (DLP) policy is essential for any organization looking to protect its data. However, no protection is 100% effective, so it's important to have a thought-out plan in place. Here are some best practices to help you create a successful DLP policy:
- Identify what data needs to get protected. This includes understanding its location and how it gets used.
- Educate employees on the importance of protecting data and the consequences of breaching security protocol.
- Establish clear rules and procedures for handling data.
- These should be regularly reviewed and updated as needed.
- Use technology to help enforce your DLP policy. This might include data encryption, activity monitoring, and user access controls.
- Respond quickly and appropriately to any data breaches that occur.
- This will help limit the damage and reduce the chances of it happening again.
- Involve leadership in the development of your DLP policy.
- Leaders will need to get committed to its success and be able to champion it throughout the organization.
- Review and revise your policy regularly. As your business grows and changes, so will your data protection needs.
How Do You Identify and Classify Sensitive Data?
Sensitive data is any information that could put your company at risk if it gets into the wrong hands. This could include Protected Health Information (PHI), Personally Identifiable Information (PH), customer credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or trade secrets. Protecting this data is critical to keeping your business safe, and implementing a data loss prevention policy is the best way to do so.
There are several methods for identifying and classifying sensitive data. The first step is to determine your company's data and storage types. Once you understand your data well, you can start developing classification criteria. This could include things like the sensitivity of the data, who needs access to it, and how frequently authorized people can access it. By clearly defining what data is sensitive and how your team should handle it, you can create a robust data loss prevention policy that will help keep your company safe.
How Do You Use Data Encryption?
Encryption is the process of converting readable data into an unreadable format. Encryption can help to protect any data, including emails, text messages, and files. The goal of encryption is to protect the privacy of information by making it impossible for unauthorized people to access it.
There are two types of encryption: symmetric key and public key. Symmetric key encryption, also known as private key encryption, encrypts and decrypts data using the same key. This means an encrypted message's sender and recipient must use the same key. Public key encryption, also known as asymmetric key encryption, employs two distinct keys: a public key available to all and a private key known only to the owner.
The sender and recipient must first agree on a shared key to encrypt data using symmetric encryption. This shared key can be a number, a word, or a phrase. Once they agree upon the shared key, the sender can use it to encrypt the data. The recipient can then decrypt the data with the same key.
To encrypt data using public key encryption, the sender generates a pair of keys, a public key, and a private key. The public key is available to everyone, whereas the private key is only available to the owner. The sender encrypts the data with the recipient's public key. The recipient then decrypts the data with their private key.
There are numerous types of encryption algorithms, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. It is critical to select an encryption algorithm appropriate for the type of encrypted data and the level of security required.
What Is Data Visibility?
Data visibility is the ability to see and understand what data exists within an organization and where it resides. With this information, an organization can better safeguard its information by understanding how stakeholders and end users use sensitive information. An organization can develop a DLP policy to help protect its information if it has visibility into what data exists.
Businesses can achieve data visibility through a variety of methods, including:
- Data discovery tool - These tools assist organizations in identifying sensitive data and tracking its location.
- Network monitoring - This information provides visibility into how data flows across an organization's networks.
- User activity monitoring - This gives organizations a better understanding of how users interact with data.
Enterprise systems that integrate with these tools, such as shared drives, SharePoint, and other organizational support applications also contain shadow information - data that you don't know exists but presents risk to your organization. Hackers and ransomware malactors understand the value of finding this shadow information, which is most frequently found in these enterprise systems.
What Is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property (IP) helps to describe mental creations — inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs — used in commerce. The goal of intellectual property law is to incentivize people to create new things by protecting the rights of those who do so.
Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets are the four major types of intellectual property. Patents grant inventors the exclusive right to make, use, and sell their inventions for a set period. Copyrights protect creative works such as books, movies, music, and artwork. Trademarks protect brand names and logos. Trade secrets are bits of information that are not widely known and give a business an advantage over its competitors.
Does DLP Technology Have Limitations?
Yes, DLP technology has limitations. For example, it cannot track all types of modern mobile communication, such as messages sent from a user's mobile device. Furthermore, DLP tools are generally ineffective when working with flat files (e.g., scanned documents) and rich media, such as images and video, because they cannot parse and classify their content. Finally, encryption can make DLP tools ineffective because they can only examine encrypted data. The data becomes invisible when users encrypt data with keys that the DLP system operators cannot access. Despite these limitations, DLP technology remains a powerful tool for organizations looking to protect sensitive data.
Organizations must take data loss prevention (DLP) seriously to protect themselves from data breaches, regulatory fines, and other negative consequences. A comprehensive DLP policy can help organizations identify and protect their most sensitive data while ensuring that employees know their data handling and security responsibilities.
Developing a comprehensive data loss prevention policy is essential for any organization that wants to protect itself from data breaches and other negative consequences. When developing a DLP policy, you must consider a few key considerations. First, organizations should identify the types of data that need to get protected and put procedures in place to ensure that this data is properly secured. Second, employers should train employees on handling sensitive data per the organization's DLP policy. Finally, a business should conduct regular testing and auditing of the DLP policy to ensure its efficacy.
Contact our team at The Honest Approach to learn more.