In our modern-day digital age, data security is an essential component of any corporate business strategy. With the proliferation of data in multiple storage technologies and clouds, managing data and ensuring the security of sensitive data has become increasingly challenging. Emerging trends in technology continue to shape the way corporations ensure that their data is secure, and one of these trends is Data Security Posture Management (DSPM). In this article, we will examine what DSPM entails and the importance of this emerging security trend.
What is Data Security Posture Management?
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) is an emerging trend that provides visibility into sensitive data, access, usage, and security posture of the data store or application. DSPM involves identifying sensitive data, monitoring data flows, matching risk and compliance with data security controls, and fixing permissions, entitlements, and sharing. DSPM provides a framework for managing data security posture, identifying potential risks, implementing security controls, and regularly monitoring the effectiveness of these controls.
To get a better idea of what DSPM involves, let’s examine some key components:
- Discovery and classification of sensitive data.
- Control setup for securing sensitive data.
- Robust data activity monitoring (logging, monitoring, etc.).
- Prioritization of controls implementation.
- Monitoring effectiveness of controls.
An effective DSPM strategy combines capabilities from data management, information governance, privacy, and security to provide automated, continuous, and highly accurate data discovery and classification for security teams. By automating data detection and classification, DSPM helps organizations ensure they have a complete grasp of their data at any given time, identifying areas of risk and potential vulnerabilities.
Organizations should invest in DSPM to improve their security posture, governance, compliance, and reduce the risk of data breaches. In the next section, we’ll explore the differences between DSPM and other security technologies like Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM).
Differences Between DSPM and CSPM
While DSPM and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) both play roles in data security, there is a difference in focus between them. DSPM is designed to provide risk analysis and mitigation related to data security, while CSPM zeroes in on infrastructure-level vulnerabilities that can impact networks. DSPM is typically concerned with the security of the data layer of an application or network, while CSPM is focused on the surrounding infrastructure that supports the data layer.
Effective DSPM companies provide comprehensive content and context-driven data discovery, allowing organizations to discover all their sensitive data without writing burdensome rules or regex patterns. In contrast, CSPM providers may focus on vulnerability scanning and penetration testing to look for infrastructure-level vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in cloud environments. Although there are differences in focus between DSPM and CSPM, both are essential tools in mitigating cloud security concerns.
In the next section, we’ll explore the components of a mature DSPM solution.##Components of a Mature DSPM Solution
A mature DSPM solution has various components that work together to ensure that sensitive data is secure, discoverable, and under control. Here are some essential components of a DSPM solution:
Discovery and Classification
Effective DSPM solutions should have an easy-to-use data catalog that automatically discovers sensitive data and identifies its sensitivity level. This catalog should provide metadata for the data, including location, format, access control status, and integrity.
Robust Prioritization
An effective DSPM solution should also have a system of prioritizing data risk and recommending security controls for that data based on business context and potential risk. Understanding the sensitivity of data and identifying potential risks is not enough; an effective DSPM solution must also have a framework for prioritizing and implementing appropriate and timely controls.
Controls for Securing Data
DSPM must provide controls to mitigate data risks. These controls can range from access controls to encryption. The ideal DSPM solution should have identity federation capabilities to prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing sensitive data. Policy-based cloud access control is also a crucial component of a mature DSPM solution.
Monitoring
A mature DSPM solution should have robust data activity monitoring features. The solution should monitor data egress and ingress activities to identify anomalies, intrusions, and other potential security risks. Monitoring should include real-time alerts and custom notifications for threats that need immediate attention.
Benefits of DSPM
The benefits of implementing a mature DSPM strategy are numerous. Here are some of the most significant benefits of DSPM:
Improved Security
DSPM helps organizations identify, assess, and mitigate potential data risks and vulnerabilities. This results in an improved security posture and better protection of sensitive data from malicious actors.
Governance
Effective DSPM solutions provide assurances that data is managed according to best practices and compliance requirements. DSPM helps compliance teams, IT departments, and executive leadership be confident that they are managing sensitive data appropriately.
Compliance
With robust data detection and response capabilities, DSPM ensures compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. In the event of audits and inquiries, the organization can rely on DSPM solutions to demonstrate that they are following the necessary guidelines.
Risk Reduction
By providing visibility into sensitive data, DSPM helps organizations reduce the risk of data breaches. A mature DSPM solution can detect, analyze, and respond to data layer risk by automating data discovery, classification, and monitoring.
Emerging Security Trend
According to Gartner, “By 2022, 60% of organizations will use data security platforms that include data policy management, data least privilege assurance, encryption, data discovery and classification, and robust data activity monitoring.” DSPM is an emerging trend that is becoming increasingly critical in ensuring data security and risk management in a dynamic environment.
Conclusion
Data Security Posture Management is an essential security trend that provides a framework for managing data security posture, identifying potential risks, implementing security controls, and regularly monitoring their effectiveness. It includes identifying sensitive data, monitoring data flows, matching risk and compliance with data security controls, and fixing permissions, entitlements, and sharing. DSPM is an emerging trend that combines capabilities from data management, information governance, privacy, and security to provide automated, continuous, and highly accurate data discovery and classification for security teams.
Effective DSPM vendors provide automated and highly accurate data discovery and classification for security teams, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Organizations must invest in DSPM to improve their security posture, governance, compliance, and reduce the risk of data breaches. With emerging trends in AI and deep learning, the future of DSPM looks promising in providing even more robust data risk assessment automation.