One size does not fit all for DLP: You spoke, we listened
My last blog post highlighted the innovative approach Forcepoint has taken to extend DLP policies into the cloud via DLP and CASB integration. After completing that integration, to continue on the innovation theme, our product team decided to tackle an equally big, albeit different problem: does the one-size-fits-all paradigm really work for the DLP market?
We all know that one-size-fits-all is a challenging concept in almost every single way it’s applied. Why should that be any different for cybersecurity? With the creation of Forcepoint’s Human Point System, we’re leading the charge in the entire cybersecurity industry from a world where we are saddled with One-Security-Profile to rule them all to a truly individualized and personalized cybersecurity. In the spirit of delivering the right security solution to fit the right problem we’re making some changes to our DLP packaging.
We want to be able to offer the ‘right-size’ DLP feature set to address the problem that needs solving. As we started heading in this direction, the first thing we did was reach out to our customers and technology partners. We polled and surveyed a lot of our customers and prospects and asked them what was ‘really important’ with their data protection needs. The answers painted a very clear picture.
There were three ‘main groupings’ of learnings. First, you asked for a simpler way of transacting DLP – “If you want to provide me total protection, can you just offer that to me without needing to buy a lot of different parts?” Second was this idea of “right-sizing my DLP to fit my needs” and the third was “give me the flexibility to change my mind in the event my needs change.”
To solve for the “just give me everything I need” problem, we are launching DLP Suites – comprised of DLP Endpoint, DLP Network and DLP Discover. This provides protection on the endpoint, across the network (web and email), delivers integrated OCR (at no extra cost) to extract sensitive data from images, and gives you the ability to discover the data that needs protecting across your datacenter environment. The suites, coupled with DLP Cloud Applications (covered here) provide complete data loss protection.
For less complex implementations, we’ve heard that our offering, while robust and full featured, is “really more than we need.” It’s like trying to sell a premium car when all the consumer wants is to get from Point A to Point B. We wanted to address that situation in a way that still delivers many of the family values offered with the more robust offer (management experience), but for more entry level needs. The request was for a product that simply addressed the need brought on by mandated regulation. To that end, we have released a product set called DLP for Compliance. This provides many of the features required to meet compliance regulations, but leaves out some advanced features like fingerprinting, machine learning classifiers and analytics. Those features, which were always part of our standard DLP offer will get rebranded as DLP for IP Protection.
Both DLP for Compliance and DLP for IP Protection will be available via their individual components (DLP Network, Endpoint and Discover) or in the newly launched suites, at a special packaged price. One thing to keep in mind is that we are not offering the ability to mix-and-match components across DLP for IP Protection and DLP for Compliance. This removes a whole lot of complicated scenarios, which is aligned with the original desire to “keep it simple.”
The last request you made was to ensure that if your needs changed from ‘just compliance’ to needing more robust IP protection, that we would have a simple upgrade process to get you to your new destination. To that end, we’ve created a series of upgrade SKUs to make that process as seamless as possible.
Most of our customers will still enjoy the full-featured DLP for IP Protection offering. We’re confident that the protection it provides will meet the needs of the majority of the market, but we wanted to ensure that we had the right DLP offerings to meet your needs. You spoke and we listened – which is the way it should always be.
