Q & A: DLP for the rest of us

What’s the big deal about DLP?

Data Loss has become one of the most critical fronts in the security war. It’s a major problem and it’s not getting any smaller.

You see it in the big headlines nearly every week -- companies and government departments losing millions of records at a time. Patient records. Credit card data. Passwords and identities. It’s the nightmare scenario for every boardroom as its consequences can be financial, reputational and legal.

And given the lack of data breach disclosure legislation in a number of markets, for every story that breaks there are dozens that never hit the headlines.

We commissioned a fairly robust survey recently and found that 96 percent of Australian CIOs rate data loss issues as anywhere from ‘important’ to ‘imperative’. DLP, given the value of an organisations information asset and the ease with which it can be compromised, is clearly front-of-mind.

What causes data loss?

Four top causes account for the vast majority of data leaks: accidental disclosure, malware, hackers and trusted insiders. There are other vectors, but these are the big ones and they all rely on getting data out through two big highways: e-mail and the Web.

You’ve been rather outspoken about the recent wave of DLP hype in the marketplace. Why is that?

Well, I don’t think there are many companies out there who aren’t developing DLP strategies right now. So it is a big issue.