The Role of DSPM in Preventing Insider Threats

"One of the most difficult security threats to handle is insider threats. Such threats are usually malicious and may lead to serious security problems. Sometimes, they occur due to user or employee negligence, and they may also be unintentional. These threats are posed by authorized users, as opposed to external attacks. This undermines the conventional defense systems. Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) helps protect data directly."

"DSPM solutions automatically scan and catalog data in multi-cloud environments. This includes AWS S3 buckets, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud SQL databases. The process finds shadow data. Shadow data often comes from stores that employees create for projects or testing. They might forget about them or set them up without permission. These stores frequently hold sensitive information that is left unprotected."

"Discovery alone isn't enough. DSPM classifies data by its content and context. It finds information with personally identifiable details. It also flags financial data, such as payment card information. Additionally, it tags valuable assets, such as intellectual property. This classification highlights your crown jewels - your most valuable data. These are malicious insider targets and can be very damaging when revealed. It gives you an idea of what parts of security you need to concentrate on most."

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) protects data through visibility, monitoring, and automation to prevent misuse and exposure. DSPM builds a full inventory of sensitive data assets and maps data across multi-cloud environments, including AWS S3, Azure Blob, and Google Cloud SQL. DSPM finds shadow data created for projects or testing and surfaces unprotected stores. DSPM classifies data by content and context, identifying PII, financial records, and intellectual property, and tags crown-jewel assets. DSPM also enforces strict access controls to reduce excessive permissions that enable insider threats. DSPM prioritizes protection efforts toward the most damaging targets.

Read at Business Matters