Why Deploying an Endpoint DLP is More Important Than Ever

As remote work has become the new normal, at least for the foreseeable future, the vulnerabilities of endpoints are clearer than ever before.

Data is an important asset for every company, and protecting it against loss, leakage, or theft is crucial in every situation. By implementing an endpoint Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution, organizations can protect sensitive data regardless of an endpoint’s physical location. Such solutions are deployed on each endpoint, providing content discovery, preventing data leakage through storage devices, and safeguarding data when a device is outside the corporate network.

Data Protection while Working from Home

The coronavirus pandemic has set the remote work revolution on a fast track, forcing many companies to shift to work from home policies and enabling remote staff overnight. After the pandemic has passed, probably an increased number of organizations will continue to rely on remote workers.
Businesses that have recently transited to working from home are scrambling to establish the best processes as well as finding the best tools to ensure that sensitive company and customer data will remain protected. Many departments such as Finance or Human Resources may be handling confidential information outside the office for the first time.

Along with this shift, various security challenges have arisen, and protecting remote endpoints moved up on the priority list. Data leaks can easily happen by copying sensitive information to different portable storage devices or sending it through email, instant messages, web browsers, file-sharing or cloud services, and so on. Leaking information accidentally or intentionally is more likely when users are outside the security of a company network. An endpoint DLP software can offer solutions to multiple challenges that the remote workforce brings to sensitive data such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Intellectual Property (IP).

Learn about the top 3 benefits an endpoint Data Loss Prevention solution has in these times of remote work:

Secure mobility

Endpoint DLPs offer the possibility to monitor and control sensitive data and stop it from leaving the endpoint. These tools can prevent attempts of copying or sending information without authorization both in physical and virtual environments. In comparison with network DLPs that can only protect data when computers are connected to the company network, if organizations apply data protection policies at an endpoint level, they can protect confidential information regardless of the endpoint’s physical location or whether connected to the internet or not. With an endpoint DLP, companies can track the movement of data to unauthorized individuals or applications and take remediation actions.

Organizations using Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions such as Amazon Workspaces or Citrix Workspace can also benefit from deploying an enterprise-grade DLP solution and ensure the security of their data.

Data flow control

Data leaks can be prevented at their earliest stage with endpoint DLPs – when users deliberately or accidentally initiate transfers of sensitive data from their local computer.

Content inspection and contextual analysis of data in motion, or stored on a managed endpoint device can also be performed by DLP solutions, offering granular control of sensitive information. Through content inspection, companies can protect data containing PII, health or financial information, and data protected under different regulations such as the GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS. Combined with contextual detection that can block or allow data flows based on file type, file size, related regular expressions, etc., it provides an efficient approach to data leakage prevention. Furthermore, with a DLP solution, companies can monitor, restrict, and block endpoint data exchanges with removable devices or printers, through email clients or applications, and more.

Enhanced data visibility

An endpoint DLP solution enables companies to gain visibility and control over their confidential data at rest stored across their IT environment, thus proactively preventing data breaches. By scanning data residing on endpoints outside and inside the corporate network, these solutions can locate sensitive content and provide remediation actions.

If you’re concerned about protecting your sensitive data and ensuring compliance with regulations when your employees are working remotely, we invite you to get in touch and learn how we can support you in your efforts with our easy-to-deploy endpoint DLP solution.