Here’s an understatement: The world of work has changed — and so has data security. Even compared to two or three years ago, people are working in powerful new ways — collaborating from anywhere and any device via cloud-driven productivity apps. Mobile workforces, remote workforces and the “gig economy” of contractors are dramatically broadening the environment where data is being created for the typical organization. More files and data live outside the well-defended and easily visible interior. And today, the most valuable data in an organization is unstructured — think source code, design files, product roadmaps, customer lists and strategy documents. In this world, detecting insider threats has become a complex nightmare for many organizations.
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Conventional security tools aren’t built for the modern paradigm
Today’s worker is remote at home, working on a laptop, creating and sharing data in the cloud — and just as likely to be working on a Mac as Windows. Conventional data security tools, such as DLP, just weren’t designed to handle this modern paradigm for three key reasons:
They only detect what you tell them to.
They’re built to block — not to enable.
They aim to stop the threat — not see the threat.
In short, the traditional “lock it down” approach used with structured data just won’t work. Unstructured data is constantly evolving, it’s user-controlled — and you want it that way. Today, your business’ success depends on enabling a collaboration culture that allows your employees to create, iterate and share files quickly and seamlessly.
Adding to that, many companies have not yet integrated data security into critical processes — so their security teams are left with limited visibility and control. For example, companies’ data compliance policies and processes lag behind the current realities of their expanding, cloud-driven ecosystem. Another common gap involves employee onboarding and offboarding — two common workflows that present an increasing data loss risk. Security teams are not well integrated with these HR-driven workflows, meaning the security tools they do have cannot be effectively focused on these acute risks.
Prevention alone isn’t enough to stop insider threat
The harsh reality is that prevention alone won’t detect every insider threat. Data evolves too fast, technology progresses too fast, the workforce is always changing and users are just too creative. So, what happens when data falls through the prevention cracks? It’s a race against time. A valuable file is out there in the wild — and your security team needs to rapidly answer critical questions around who took what, when, how, etc. But because prevention tools struggle to see unstructured data as it evolves, the security team is left flying blind. Detection happens long after the fact, investigations are slow, and response comes too late.
Nathan Hunstad
As director of security operations at Code42, Nathan leads the team responsible for security tooling, red team exercises and responding to security events. Nathan joined Code42 in 2016, bringing experience from both the private and public sector, and is a graduate of the Masters of Science in Security Technologies (MSST) program at the University of Minnesota.
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