Understanding DSPM: Strengthening Data Security through Effective Management

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, ensuring data security is more crucial than ever. Rob Server, Field CTO at Spirion, and Danny Murphy, Chief Product Officer at Lepide, delved into the topic during a webinar, sharing valuable insights. Their discussion provided expert perspectives on how organizations can better manage their sensitive data, assess risks, and implement robust security measures.  

Here’s a breakdown of the key points, action items, and advice from their conversation. 

DSPM, or Data Security Posture Management, is essential for organizations to understand where their sensitive data resides, who has access to it, how it’s used, and the overall security posture of that data. According to Rob Server, DSPM involves three critical steps: 

1. Discovery: Identifying where sensitive data is stored, whether on-premises, in the cloud, structured, or unstructured.
2. Classification and Risk Assessment: Classifying data to assess risk and ensure consistent treatment across different environments.
3. Monitoring and Protection: Continuously monitoring data to protect it through access controls and other security measures. 

Danny Murphy emphasized the importance of starting with discovery: “Once you’ve run that discovery, classified the data, and understood where your most sensitive data is, the next step is understanding where your data is most at risk.” This involves identifying open shares, overprivileged access, and the systems providing access to the data. 

Key Takeaways and Action Items 

• Implement Least Privilege Access: Ensure that only the necessary individuals have access to sensitive data. Regularly review and adjust permissions to prevent overprivileged access. 

“We can’t lock everything down. We must follow this kind of least privilege model when we’re dealing with sensitive data.”

-Danny Murphy

• Continuous Monitoring: Regularly monitor data access and usage patterns to detect any anomalous activities or potential threats. 

“If people perform actions outside of their usual behavior, like accessing sensitive data they don’t usually access, we should be able to flag that behavior.”

– Danny Murphy

• Automate Data Remediation: Use playbooks to automate the remediation process. This helps quickly address issues without manual intervention, saving time and reducing errors. 

“Playbooks have a logical flow. We can map your business rules to those flows and make actionable and prioritized checkpoints to understand what must happen at what point.”

– Rob Server

• Context-Rich Classification: Apply persistent, visual, and context-rich classifications to data, making it easier for users to understand the sensitivity and required handling of data. 

“We’re able to put in classifications to files persistently so other solutions can read them. They’re automatic, visual, and persistent.”

– Rob Server

• Address Inactive Users and Admin Privileges: Regularly audit inactive users and admin privileges in Active Directory to prevent unauthorized access and reduce risk. 

“Understanding who’s got effective admin privileges is crucial. This helps in eliminating permission sprawl and securing sensitive data.”

– Danny Murphy

The integration of Spirion and Lepide solutions offers a comprehensive approach to DSPM. Spirion excels in data discovery and classification, while Lepide provides robust access controls and threat detection capabilities. 

• Spirion’s Strengths: Accurate data discovery, minimal false positives, automated remediation via playbooks, and persistent data classification. 
• Lepide’s Strengths: Access governance, threat detection, real-time monitoring, and continuous auditing. 

DSPM is not just a set of tools but a strategic approach to managing data security. By understanding where your data is, who can access it, and how it’s being used, you can better protect your organization against data breaches and other security threats. As the speakers highlighted, the key to effective DSPM is continuous vigilance and adapting your strategy to meet evolving challenges. 

By leveraging the strengths of Spirion and Lepide, organizations can achieve a holistic and proactive data security posture.