Data Leakage Prevention

DLP is all the rage. It ranks as one of the most sought after product sets in corporate security arenals these days. The motivation is obvious: state data breach laws are driving controls around sensitive information, particularly consumer information, in an effort to reduce the likelihood of reportable events. Management needs to know what to expect from all the hype surrounding these products.

The key fact about DLP products that is emerging under this scrutiny is that they are not particularly good at stopping intentional loss driven by malice or greed. The determined attacker has a number of methods for foiling most leak prevention products including encryption, obfuscation, or non-network based egress vectors.

While DLP products may not stop criminals, they can be pretty effective at policing your normal egress points.

As I've heard it said best. "These products can stop stupid." And that may be worth the price of admission.