Safeguarding corporate information securely on personal and corporate devices has become a huge issue for organisations worldwide. Today, users and workers employ devices for both corporate and personal use. Without proper document security solutions, information is sure to escape--whether wittingly or unknowingly--which is why there is a need for data loss prevention solutions to protect sensitive information on corporate and personal devices.
An information leak or breach is a security occurrence that takes place when classified information in documents is replicated, spread, examined, pilfered or utilised by unauthorised people, outside the network of users licensed to use the information.
Previously, the problem of data loss use to arise from information at rest, information in transit, e-mails, chat applications and numerous other online systems. These days, however, with the rapid proliferation of mobile technology, data loss is taking place at an alarmingly growing pace, with greater ease, either unintentionally or deliberately, as documents are easily created, modified and transmitted at lightning speed. Although the dangers of data loss from outside an organisation are still a major worry for management across industries, significant loss of information also takes place due to internal factors.
In an organisation, every worker and device that holds organisational data within a document, is a potential threat, for example, a lost mobile tablet can rapidly become an agent of data loss, if acquired by a stranger with malicious intention. Data loss could also take place due to lack of awareness from the employee point of view, that is, they might be unaware of the fact that their specific conduct or activities with organisational documents can render information unsafe. Most organisations overlook the fact that most employees are generally unaware of security measures and precautions to secure classified corporate information.
In order to achieve document security for corporate information, it is important that the organisation has to be tenacious and forward-thinking in dealing with the security issues particularly in the pacey and continually transforming mobile age. Information can get out of the organisational network through several exit points within the infrastructure of the company's IT systems. Hence, it is critical that organisations prioritise the management of information loss risk by opting for data loss prevention solutions (DLP) that can help in monitoring and acting at the various exit points.
Common conducts resulting in possible risk of information loss include:
Loss of data can be prevented by implementing the following steps:
Some important types of DLP solutions include:
Encryption
Considered to be a highly effective document-security tool, encryption is a simple solution that can help in preventing the loss of data in documents. Unauthorised individuals will be unable to read encrypted data. Removable media can also be encrypted, thus allowing organisations to ensure that any information taken outside the business environment is safeguarded at all times.
Digital Rights Management Technology (DRM)
DRM is highly beneficial for comprehensive document security. Here, data is protected via encryption, only allowing permission to view the encrypted files after the identity of the user has been authenticated and the rights to the access have been verified. DRM is considered to be a popular form of encryption as it continues to stay active wherever the protected content is, irrespective of whether the content lies within the office environment or on shared computing devices, both within and beyond the firewall.
There is always going to be the risk to document security, given the rapid progress of the mobile and remote working age; however establishments can help in curbing and preventing document security breaches where possible. If organisations can efficiently blend various document security measures currently available, a virtually infallible information-loss prevention system can be attained. It is crucial that organisations make data loss prevention solutions a priority to meet the challenge of document security threats in order to prevent corporate loss and revenues.
An information leak or breach is a security occurrence that takes place when classified information in documents is replicated, spread, examined, pilfered or utilised by unauthorised people, outside the network of users licensed to use the information.
Previously, the problem of data loss use to arise from information at rest, information in transit, e-mails, chat applications and numerous other online systems. These days, however, with the rapid proliferation of mobile technology, data loss is taking place at an alarmingly growing pace, with greater ease, either unintentionally or deliberately, as documents are easily created, modified and transmitted at lightning speed. Although the dangers of data loss from outside an organisation are still a major worry for management across industries, significant loss of information also takes place due to internal factors.
In an organisation, every worker and device that holds organisational data within a document, is a potential threat, for example, a lost mobile tablet can rapidly become an agent of data loss, if acquired by a stranger with malicious intention. Data loss could also take place due to lack of awareness from the employee point of view, that is, they might be unaware of the fact that their specific conduct or activities with organisational documents can render information unsafe. Most organisations overlook the fact that most employees are generally unaware of security measures and precautions to secure classified corporate information.
In order to achieve document security for corporate information, it is important that the organisation has to be tenacious and forward-thinking in dealing with the security issues particularly in the pacey and continually transforming mobile age. Information can get out of the organisational network through several exit points within the infrastructure of the company's IT systems. Hence, it is critical that organisations prioritise the management of information loss risk by opting for data loss prevention solutions (DLP) that can help in monitoring and acting at the various exit points.
Common conducts resulting in possible risk of information loss include:
- Casually placing company documents that contain sensitive corporate information in public places
- Failing to log out of company website portals on laptops in public places
- Leaving passwords vulnerable
- Logging on to unauthorised websites within the organisational infrastructure
- Misplacement or robbery of corporate tools (Tablets, Smartphones, Laptops, Pen Drives, Optical Media, Hard Drives etc.)
- Misplacement or robbery of personal devices that are also employed for organisational practices
- Lack of privacy when checking official emails and Instant Messaging texts in public
- Absence of coding
- Absence of authentication
- Absence of remote access control
Loss of data can be prevented by implementing the following steps:
- Executing content-sensitive, meticulous examination on the traffic flowing through the network in addition to email and several other procedural formalities. Content-sensitive DLP can help in identifying crucial information based on codes of practices and guidelines formerly established and arranged by the organisation. DLP solutions can be made use of at varied phases; they could be placed on the network, at the final point in the process or on compiled data.
- Ascertaining that accomplished sessions are consistently being monitored for examination
- Employing both statistical and lingual methods for investigation, such as fingerprinting documents
- Exposing, obstructing and restraining the use of exact information based on regulations and guidelines, thus preventing saving, printing and transmission of documents containing sensitive corporate content.
- Supervising the flow of traffic on the network, email flow and various channels with the help of a single solution and an independent management interface
- Obstructing policy infringements through email and other forms of external communication such as instant messaging
- Securing an end-user guideline compliance key, by restricting what users do on their computing devices through the control of connected device usage and network interfaces, overseeing the applications used by them and by monitoring specific websites to render them inaccessible in the organisation. If required, activities of various external connected devices that are locked into the organisational network can also be centrally disabled, such as thumb drives, optical media, personal drives, smartphones, network cards etc. Here, the danger of portable storage devices becoming the medium of data loss can be eliminated by giving the administrators control with the help of an end point solution.
- Enciphering all kinds of information and communications stored in documents and various files across devices.
Some important types of DLP solutions include:
Encryption
Considered to be a highly effective document-security tool, encryption is a simple solution that can help in preventing the loss of data in documents. Unauthorised individuals will be unable to read encrypted data. Removable media can also be encrypted, thus allowing organisations to ensure that any information taken outside the business environment is safeguarded at all times.
Digital Rights Management Technology (DRM)
DRM is highly beneficial for comprehensive document security. Here, data is protected via encryption, only allowing permission to view the encrypted files after the identity of the user has been authenticated and the rights to the access have been verified. DRM is considered to be a popular form of encryption as it continues to stay active wherever the protected content is, irrespective of whether the content lies within the office environment or on shared computing devices, both within and beyond the firewall.
There is always going to be the risk to document security, given the rapid progress of the mobile and remote working age; however establishments can help in curbing and preventing document security breaches where possible. If organisations can efficiently blend various document security measures currently available, a virtually infallible information-loss prevention system can be attained. It is crucial that organisations make data loss prevention solutions a priority to meet the challenge of document security threats in order to prevent corporate loss and revenues.
