Corporate Data Loss Prevention.

Data loss prevention (DLP) is a strategy for making sure that end users do not send sensitive or critical information outside the corporate network.

Data loss policies and technology are a key component is an organization's comprehensive security procedures, and they help to ensure that confidential or sensitive corporate information isn't accessed or transmitted without proper authorization.

It describes software products that help a network administrator control what data end users can transfer.

Data loss protection software is designed to monitor, detect and prevent the loss of data while it's at rest, either in on-premises storage drives or in the cloud, as well as when it's in use or in transit.

DLP policies and technology are a key component is an organization's comprehensive security procedures, and they help to ensure that confidential or sensitive corporate information isn't accessed or transmitted without proper authorization.

 

Securing this data is further complicated by several growing risk factors:

 

1. Rapidly evolving compliance regulations and mandates
2. Continued growth of workforce mobility
3. Employees using their own mobile devices and consumer apps for work
4. Rising frequency of advanced persistent threats (APTs) and data breach incidents

To avoid the embarrassment, reputation damage, regulatory fines, and revenue loss, your enterprise must be able to identify, track, and secure all confidential data from multiple points within the organization and in the cloud — without impacting employee productivity and performance.

Data Loss Prevention is almost always accompanied by other hardware and software security measures in an enterprise such as firewalls, antivirus and anti-malware software and intrusion detection systems (IDS) and the use of secure encryption for e-mail, secure connections to websites via HTTPS and other methods for classifying and protecting sensitive information from being accidentally or maliciously accessed or modified by unauthorized users.

Data loss prevention tools and policies have become more prevalent recently with the rise in corporate data breaches as well as state and national regulatory regulations and privacy laws such as HIPAA. 

Some of the more popular DLP vendors include Symantec, Mcafee, Trend Micro and Websense.

DLP tools can also be used to filter data streams on the corporate network and protect data in motion.