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DLP and CASB

An Introduction to CASB and DLP

With the introduction of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) into the workplace, holes have appeared within many organisations’ security and compliance applications.  Holes which some IT users are blind to.

Software programs such as OneDrive, GoogleDrive and Dropbox that users install on their personal equipment to move files to work on outside of the workplace, are highly susceptible to such “holes”.  These transferable documents may contain sensitive data and can pose a threat to any organisation if compromised.

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and Data Leakage Protection (DLP) software is designed to eliminate such issues.

What is CASB?

  • CASB stands for cloud access security broker.
  • It is an application that separates the company’s own on-premises infrastructure and an external cloud provider’s infrastructure.
  • CASBs identify active cloud applications and detect high-risk users and applications.
  • CASB extends organisational security policies beyond internal infrastructure.

What is DLP

  • DLP stands for data loss prevention.
  • DLP products enable network administrators to regulate the business data that users can transfer to ensure confidential or sensitive data is not sent outside the business network unless authorised.
  • DLP applications use predefined rules to categorise and protect confidential information to prevent users from sharing such data, be it accidentally or maliciously.

Forcepoint CASB and DLP

Forcepoint has developed its Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and Data Leakage Protection (DLP) applications to offer organisations an effective and efficient way to protect business-critical, sensitive data.

Forcepoint CASB along with its sister product Forcepoint DLP allows organisations to monitor who, what and when with regards the movement of information and data between the organisation and the cloud applications installed on user devices.

The software allows IT departments to discover and assess the risks of the unsanctioned cloud apps and will also enable tighter control of sanctioned cloud apps, facilitating a greater understanding of organisational data flow and the prevention of critical data loss.

These two Forcepoint products have been recognised as the market leaders in this area by analysts.  They provide industries with the most complete data protection platform, utilising its functionality in data discovery and data leakage prevention and as such provide a secure base for organisations to meet industry compliance requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Never has an IT department’s role in the protection of data been as crucial as it is today.  Educating employees is a fundamental starting point. And to take care of the inevitable mishaps, having the right protection in place is imperative.

Take a look at the Forcepoint webpage to find out more.

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Ransomware: headline news for the Oxford Dictionary, everyday news for IT teams

More than 1000 new words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for 2018. Words such as hangry and mansplaining! But a word you might not be surprised to see in the latest OED is ransomware, which the OED has described as:

A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.

Following incidents such as the 2017 WannaCry attack on the NHS, the British public now have a far greater awareness of cyber-attacks.  The publicity surrounding the attack almost undoubtedly contributed to ransomware being added to the dictionary.

It is interesting that the word ransomware has only now been announced by the OED, not only because it has been in use by IT professionals for some time, but also as two of its sister editions have contained this definition since at least July 2017, these being the Oxford Dictionary of English and the New Oxford American Dictionary.

A sign of the times

With nearly seven in ten large businesses identifying at least one breach or attack in the last 12 months, the statistics show that businesses across the UK are now being targeted more and more frequently by cyber criminals. The number of ransomware attacks is growing and businesses are becoming increasingly concerned with how to prevent such attacks.

Businesses which have identified attacks or breaches admit to suffering temporary loss of files, software and system corruption, third party system damage and websites sabotage.  Such incidents have frequently resulted in numerous counts of financial loss and damaged reputations.

The term ransomware has now become a word synonymous on every IT professional’s lips and rightly so should be recognised as a dictionary defined word.

Businesses of all sizes must continue to invest in cyber security and take a proactive approach to IT security in order to protect themselves from falling victim to ‘a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid’.

And just in case you were wondering…

Hangry is being bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger and Mansplain is (For a man) to explain (something) to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronising.

Visit www.espida.co.uk/it-security for more information or take a look at our Forcepoint partner page to see what cyber security solutions we can offer.

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