Traditional approaches to data leakage protection can be onerous, complex, time-consuming and never-ending. But with Nclose's clients reporting concrete results within the first week of implementing their DLP approach, it's clear that there is a better way.
Speaking about one of Cape Town's major financial services giants, Martin Potgieter, Nclose director, explains that DLP is easy to get a grip on, and doesn't need to be a vague exercise that lacks measurement.
“Within days of implementing Nclose's approach to data leakage protection, we had gathered hard evidence of inefficiencies in our client's environment, and decisive action was taken to close gaps and secure the flows of data inside the company. In the weeks that followed, data security had been increased to levels that were above and beyond best practice in the financial services industry!” says Potgieter.
Data leakage is the new scourge on the corporate IT landscape. Brought to the world's attention by the high-profile loss of thousands of public records in briefcases, laptops and data disks by the UK government, data leakage's full effects have only been fully grasped in the last few years.
“As an organisation dealing with client data, your role in securing and managing information responsibly is soon to be defined by the Protection of Personal Information Act,” says Stephen Osler, an Nclose director. “While the Act speaks in broad terms about the repercussions of data leakage and loss, the implications are very specific - and damaging to your brand.”
The traditional approach to DLP is a simple four-step approach applied by most IT security service providers:
1. Locate all data
2. Classify data according to its nature and need for protection
3. Implement DLP policies and governance
4. Maintain approach into the future
Simple as it seems, this approach is costly, time-consuming, and often results in an ongoing spiral of work that never ends. The reason for this is step 2: classification.
Comprehensive classification of data typically takes up to 60% of any DLP implementation, and in most companies, this can result in six months to a year's worth of work. The problem with comprehensive data classification is that once this mammoth task appears to have been completed, data that was classified early on in the project may have changed in terms of importance or confidentiality status.
The classification task thus often never ends, and you may find that this approach leaves you constantly battling for control of the classification of your data - not to mention the selection of appropriate measures to secure it.
Classification of data vs identification
“Nclose believes whole-heartedly in the importance of data leakage protection, but offers an approach that allows your organisation to achieve the same results as a typical approach - but in less time and with more effect,” Potgieter says.
By adopting an approach that focuses on identification of data instead of classification, Nclose's DLP offering has successfully handed complete control of data to many of its clients. The basic premise is that not all data is important, and that by identifying and monitoring the flow of data in an organisation - a clearer and more accurate view of data that requires protection is obtained.
The DLP focus then falls on the data types that pose risks, making it easier and less time-consuming to get a tight grip on the management of data in your organisation. The benefits of this approach also show themselves in the bottom line. Lengthy data classification exercises are extremely costly in terms of time and money. Nclose is able to deliver a complete DLP approach - and embed it in an organisation of 1 000 people - in less than six months.
A more efficient approach that delivers savings all round
Not only is Nclose's approach more effective than traditional DLP systems, the ongoing maintenance is also more cost-effective. In a world where complexity is increasing and the hunt for data by fraudsters is relentless, Nclose offers an elegant solution that leads the way in terms of visible benefit and cost-effectiveness.
The keys to success are short implementation times, and sustainable ongoing maintenance - both hallmarks of Nclose's DLP solution.
For more information on how Nclose tackles data protection, please contact Stephen on 0860 625 673 or stephen@nclose.com.
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