Will DLP make your shop more secure?

Applying data loss prevention (DLP) to devices like PCs and laptops is a natural extension for any organization that’s already identified its critical data and set up policies around that, according to an executive with a Web content filtering software developer.

“It’s really critical to have that layer now in addressing data loss prevention at the end point after you solved some of the network issues and built the policy model that you want,” said Devin Redmond, director of security products group with San Diego, Calif.-based Websense Inc.

While DLP on end points is an emerging market, there is an increasing demand for tools that protect sensitive data residing on those endpoints – be it for proactive or reactive reasons, said Redmond.

Actually, the increasing reliance on DLP tools to manage endpoint technologies is, in part, the push behind Websense Inc.’s preview of its Open Endpoint Initiative that seeks to ensure easy integration with its Content Protection Suite and third-party endpoint security tools, he said.

As part of the initiative, Websense announced a partnership with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based enterprise endpoint security vendor Lumension Security Inc., to address the issue of sensitive data being copied to removable media and storage devices whether on the network or remotely-located.

Customers can use Lumension’s application programming interface (API) to complement whatever end point infrastructure is in place and analyze data and make policy decisions based not just on the device, but on the data itself, he said.

“The real estate on each PC or each desktop can be a pretty challenging thing to deal with for each organization, which typically has patching tools, anti-virus and other applications that may be specific to their environment on the endpoint,” said Redmond.

Websense’s endpoint DLP tool certainly offers customers an alternate method to address data loss, but it may not be the better approach, said James Quin, senior research analyst with London-Ont.-based Info-Tech Research Group.

“Is data leakage protection the right way to go about it or is it simple access controls so people who aren’t supposed to have the privileges to access the data are restricted?” he said, adding the product works as a tool to enforce a policy.