DLP, Once Out of Reach, is Now Essential for MSPs

If your business suffered $4.35 million in damages, could it survive?

That’s now the average cost of a data-exposing cybersecurity incident, according to the Ponemon Institute’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022. Impacted companies must content with regulatory fines, reputational harm, and the potential loss of trade secrets and other highly sensitive information. And data breaches are rarely one-time events — the circumstances that led to one can easily result in another. 

Data loss prevention, or DLP, refers to a category of cybersecurity solutions that are specifically designed to detect and prevent data leaks — the transfer of data to unauthorized parties, and a form of data breach. This is accomplished through a combination of data flow controls and content analysis methods. 

In today’s complex cyberthreat landscape, DLP has become a basic business need. Yet the managerial complexity, the long time to value, and the startup costs have traditionally kept all but the largest of enterprises from effectively addressing data leakage risks. Fortunately, modern solutions have left MSPs better positioned than ever to deliver effective and economical DLP services.

Protecting the three states of data

Let’s take a look at the three main states in which an organization’s data can reside — and some examples of how DLP solutions may bolster protection for each. Note that most organizations’ data will change between these states frequently — in some cases, almost continuously. For certain use cases, data may remain in a single state for its entire lifecycle.

Data in use

Data is in use when it’s being accessed by a user or transferred locally — for instance, between peripherals or applications on the endpoint.

DLP software monitors interactions with sensitive data and flags problematic behavior, such as any attempts by the user to print it, copy/paste to another location, or capture screenshots.

Data in motion

Data is in motion when it’s moving between systems. This could include, for instance, data that is being transferred from local storage to cloud storage, or from one local endpoint to another via email or messaging app.

DLP solutions can detect when an attempt is made to transfer sensitive data to inappropriate destinations — like sending it outside of the organization altogether, or to USB storage drives. 

Data at rest

Data is at rest when it’s stored on a local drive or elsewhere on the network, and is not currently being accessed or transferred.

DLP solutions enable a holistic view of sensitive data across the organization. This enables IT/security admins (or the automated policies they’ve set in place) to delete data at rest if it’s found to be out of place — or otherwise ensure that unauthorized users cannot access it.

DLP is a critical need for modern organizations

Not all data leaks are nefarious in nature: they’re often simply due to human error. Still, whether sensitive information is intentionally stolen or simply misplaced, the impact is just as real. Embarrassing headlines, damaged trust, HR difficulties and regulatory sanctions… the problems are significant and can easily be enough to sink a company.

Today’s MSPs should strongly consider the inclusion of DLP services as part of their overall offering. Integrated DLP solutions, like the Advanced DLP pack for Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, empowers service providers to prevent data leakage from client workloads and strengthen their ability to comply with any applicable data privacy regulations. 

By taking proactive steps to slash the risk of data leaks, you can achieve some powerful benefits:

Data leaks can be devastating to organizations of any size. Protect your clients and protect yourself.

This guest blog is courtesy of Acronis. Read more Acronis guest blogs here. Regularly contributed guest blogs are part of ChannelE2E’s sponsorship program.