A term originally coined by Gartner, data security posture managementData Security Posture Management (DSPM) is an emerging cyber... (DSPM) is a category of data security products that provide visibility of the location and flow of sensitive dataSensitive data refers to any information that, if disclosed,... within an organization’s hybrid-cloud environment, monitoringMonitoring in cybersecurity involves continuously observing ... the use of that data, while managing access to that data and the overall security and compliance posture of the identities, data stores and/or applications with access.
Read More on the topic: What is Data Security Posture Management?
Why do you need it?
Digital transformation marches on, and with it, the volume of data generated by businesses grows exponentially. As organization embrace more cloud, container, and ephemeral services, their ability to maintain control of data security becomes strained. Traditional methods of access controlAccess control is a process that restricts access to resourc... and perimeter-based security cannot keep up with the pace. Additionally, international compliance regulations and data-use standards complicate the move toward a “global cloud.”
DSPM not only grants deep visibility into the security posture of the data layer, it enables the management of the data permission structure to resolve gaps and identify lapses in access, allowing human analysts and leadership to focus on more pressing issues.
Why is DSPM important to data security?
DSPM directly addresses the issues security, data, and IT teams have related to understanding the details associated with sensitive data—who has access, how it is being used, where it’s located, and whether it’s safe. DSPM is about data visibility—first by identifying data at the data object level, mapping which identities have access to what data, and then exploring how the data flows across environments.
Unlike traditional or legacy tools that focus on securing just the perimeter and the identities, DSPM solutions take a data-centric focus—regardless of the cloud or data storeA data store is a repository or storage system used for stor... environment—providing a full and holistic view across platforms.
For our 2023 Insights Report, we outline The 8 Most Common Data Security Challenges that DSPM Solves.
Eight Data Problems Addressed by DSPM
#1 Lack of Data Inventory
Organizations simply don’t know what data they hae, where it is, or why it is important.
#2 Dormant Data Stores
These are old, unused, and ripe for an attack because no one’s paying attention.
#3 Over-Privileged Data Stores
Just like over-privileged identities, an over-privileged data store has widespread access enabled, inviting trouble.
#4 Dormant Identities
The single most common data security issue found and one of the overlooked paths to breaches and attacks, dormant identities should be eliminated.
#5 Over-Privileged Identities
It’s common for organizations to overestimate the level of access and privilege an identity needs. But this leads to potential for misuse or other data security incidents.
#6 Delayed or Incomplete Employee and Vendor Offboarding
Departed vendors or employees often retain admin-level access to sensitive systems and data, which must be found and cleaned up.
#7 Inadequate Segregation of Duties between Development, Test and Production Environments
Companies often fail to enforce segregation of duties between development, test, and production environments, leading to data leaks or misconfigurations.
#8 Application and Backup Misconfiguration
There are a lot of ways applications, systems, or backups can be misconfigured. Symmetry often sees things like inadequate access controls, unprotected files and directories, and access to unnecessary or unused features.
All of these data security issues can be addressed by the automatic data discovery and classification enabled by emerging DSPM solutions. Download the E-Book to see how.
How can DSPM help you?
DSPM Benefits
Security and compliance teams realize massive benefits from the capabilities provided by DSPM. Tasks that would be nearly impossible to perform manually, even in traditional infrastructure, become automated and integrated into critical operations. DSPM enables business to:
- Understand the data stores where sensitive data is located, including locating shadow data—data that has been copied or backed up through informal methods and not often visible in traditional data inventories.
- Remove “dormant dataDormant data, or otherwise known as dark data, is data that ...”—data no longer in use—and reduce the risk of exposure, data sprawlData sprawl refers to the uncontrolled and often unmanaged p..., and data storage costs.
- Highlight locations and usage of sensitive data to improve the security audit process or identify high-risk applications.
- Facilitate audits for security and privacy compliance.
- Address insider threats and vendor, supplier, and third-party risk by providing insight into which identities have access to which data.
- Implement Zero-Trust data security architecture at the data level.
DSPM Capabilities
Several key capability elements are required for a true DSPM solution. These provide cloud data security visibility and enable secure data strategies.
Visualize and Secure Data Across Environments
DSPM enables a holistic view of data, regardless of the data store. This breaks down traditional, siloed solution views and lets organizations understand the security of data, not it’s container.
Zero-Trust, Proactive Security Enablement
DSPM solutions enable the identification of excessive, unused or anomalous data, including access and usage patterns. Plus, it enumerates paths to sensitive data, allowing security and privacy teams to quantify the data blast radius of potentially-compromised accounts before abuse. This permits them to proactively enforce least privilegeThe principle of least privilege (PoLP) is a fundamental sec... IAM permissions before compromise.
Data-Object Visibility
Achieving data operations at scale requires understanding data at the smallest degree, at the data-object level, and visualizing it through the lens of industry standards and regulations to understand how the data posture complies. DSPM solutions permit this fine-grained data view, without burdening the team.
Anomalous Behavior Detection and Reporting
DSPM provides real-time observability of data, keeping pace with the speed of modern data operations. Additionally, it enables alerting and reporting on violations and potential misuse necessary to launch incident responseIncident response is the process of identifying, managing, a... and investigations quickly.
DSPM Is All About Continuous Oversight
A key component of ”management,” especially in security, is continuous improvement. A DSPM must provide real-time, meaningful guidance and even automate the improvement of an organization’s data security postureData security posture refers to the current status of the ca... over time.
How does DSPM work?
DSPM and Data Discovery
DSPM solutions assist in collecting holistic data information about all cloud and on-premises data. Typically, DSPM solutions perform agentless scans of all data across AWS, AzureAzure is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, offering a ..., GCP, and on-premises cloud for real-time snapshots or historical comparisons. This enables the platform to Identify sensitive data and where it resides, and demonstrate compliance with standards and regulations like SOC2, GDPRThe General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehen..., CCPA, HIPAA, PCI, etc.
DSPM and Data Classification
DSPM platforms then permit deep data-level classification—allowing organizations to understand the nature of their data and which policies, controls, and compliance mandates they need to apply. Understanding the interplay between what the data is and where it is stored or used eliminates data compliance and security blind spots.
DSPM in the Hype Cycle
According to Gartner in the July 2023 Hype CycleTM for Data Security report, “Security and risk management leaders should adopt innovations like data security posture management and data security platforms and prepare for the impacts of quantum computing and AI.“1
Gartner further states, “As data proliferates across the cloud, organizations must identify privacy and security risks with a single product. DSPM will transform how they identify business risks that result from data residencyData residency refers to the physical or geographic location..., privacy, and security risks. Risks multiply because data locations and content are unknown, undiscovered or unidentified. Data sensitivity, data lineage, infrastructure configurations and access privileges must be analyzed. This has led to rapid growth in the availabilityAvailability is a key aspect of information security, ensuri... and maturation of technology that can operate across a dynamic landscape.”1
Ultimately, the goal of DSPM is to enable organizations to quickly identify risks and mature their security posture over time—to protect the data—which is what most organizations care about most.
Read the July 2023 Hype CycleTM for Data Security report where Symmetry Systems is recognized as a Sample Vendor.
Is DSPM the same as CSPM?
In a word, no. But they are getting closer together. Traditional Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) is a category of in... solutions still place their focus on the configuration and management of cloud infrastructure, rather than the data on the infrastructure. At the end of the day, CSPMs provide broad security that is easily circumvented by a single compromised credential or even misplaced dataMisplaced data refers to a situation where data is stored, p.... As such, CSPM continues to silo visibility and lacks the ability to “follow the data” from instance to instance or across technologies. But as more organizations demand high-resolution, data-object visibility, CSPM and DSPM platforms are headed for a convergence. Read more in our 2023 predictions.
What about DSPM vs. DAM?
Data Activity Monitoring (DAM) allows organizations to store, share, and organize data and documents, but only those that have been cataloged and added to the system. This creates blind spots for uncovered data stores or “shadow databases” that is created and used outside the DAM platform. DSPM solutions perform continual active discovery of data, data flows, and identifies previously unknown data across on-premises and cloud data stores.
What about DSPM vs. DLP?
Data LossData loss refers to the accidental or unintentional deletion... Prevention (DLPDLP, or Data Loss Prevention (also known as Data Leak Preven...) solutions attempt to classify and stop data leaks at perimeters by identifying sensitive data as it traverses boundaries. As organizations move to more cloud-based or hybrid environments, the movement and scale of data quickly exceeds the ability of these perimeter-focused solutions. DSPM solutions take a data perspective approach, regardless of the data location, and look across the enterprise at scale, to permit proactive identity and access management strategies.
What is DSPM used for?
Organizations adopt DSPM because they understand the importance of protecting expanding data stores in a multitude of environments, with an endless number of users, devices, and identities, against a backdrop of increasing governance and compliance concerns.
DSPM Use Cases
Data Inventory and Data Flow Mapping
Understanding where data is and who (or what) can access it requires an end-to-end overview of all your data across your on-prem, cloud, and hybrid data architectures.
Investigation & Detection
The complexity of the cloud and on-demand computing means that data often moves faster than security teams can respond. Leading DSPM solutions provide automated and continuous anomalyAn anomaly is a type of behavior or action that deviates fro... detection, track the security posture improvements needed to respond quickly, and offer actionable insights for remediation.
Zero Trust
Effective Zero-Trust implementation demands continuous validation so only authorized users can access data and systems. But too many solutions focus on only the access component. Real-time monitoring with DSPM simplifies Zero-Trust strategies, extending them beyond the user and technology, to the data itself.
Compliance & Governance
Geographic and regulatory differences create challenges in ensuring data is protected where it’s stored, where it’s touched, and where it flows in between. DSPMs allow for robust, real-time data compliance and governance, regardless of data residency.
Digital Transformation
Maintaining a unified view of data security posture becomes more important as companies modernize and move to new compute models. Tracing and analyzing data to avoid shadow data or dangerous data access combinations can only be accomplished with a data-level perspective.
How do I choose the right DSPM tool?
When selecting a DSPM tool, several key factors need to be considered:
Complete Coverage of Data, Identity, and Operations:
The tool must provide visibility and control across all three axes: data (what you have and where it is), identity permissions (who has access, including contractors), and operations (what actions are performed on your data). This ensures full data governance and security without relying on superficial solutions like fake outposts or metadataMetadata is data that provides information about other data.....
Data Custody and Control:
The DSPM tool should keep your data within your control, ensuring no reliance on third-party shadow copies, fake outposts, or external repositories. The goal is to maintain direct governance over all your data assets, ensuring they remain in your custody.
Actionable Security Outcomes:
Look for tools that drive real security results, not just unactionable reports. This includes the ability to delete 25% of unnecessary or duplicate data stores, or remove hundreds of over-privileged or unused identities that increase your risk surface.
Integration:
The tool should seamlessly integrate with your cloud environments, on-premise systems, and hybrid infrastructures, ensuring full data visibility and control across all your environments.
Automation:
Robust automation is key. Tools should minimize manual intervention in critical areas like data discovery, classification, and remediation, allowing you to quickly act on the insights and reduce risk faster.
Scalability:
A DSPM solution should scale as your data grows and adapt to the expanding needs of your business. This ensures that no matter how much data you add or how many identities you manage, security remains strong.
AI and ML-Driven Insights:
Artificial Intelligence and Machine LearningTechnology companies deploy machine learning in their techno... capabilities significantly enhance accuracy and efficiency in detecting risks and preventing incidents. These features are essential for automating security workflows and responding quickly to threats.
Compliance Support:
Ensure the tool has built-in compliance features that align with your business regulations, offering easy reporting and auditingAuditing is the systematic examination, evaluation, and anal... for frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA.
By delivering comprehensive coverage across data, identity, and operations, DSPM tools empower your organization with the confidence to monitor, assess, and protect your data across diverse environments. Whether your data resides in cloud storage, on-premises databases, or hybrid infrastructures, DSPM tools provide the control and security outcomes necessary to maintain a strong security posture while minimizing risk to your most valuable data.
Check our Symmetry’s Smallest Buyers guide for DSPM for more insights: