A Day in a Life: Sensitive Data Protection

A Day in a Life: Sensitive Data Protection

When it comes to protecting sensitive data, a security team continually needs to be aware of where data breaches might occur. Different threats come from different sources and assessing the threats and understanding how to resolve them is necessary to protect your company’s sensitive data.

Let us take you through a day in a life of sensitive data protection!

Unsecured Public Wi-Fi NetworksDan from Finance attempts to use the freewireless network at a coffee shop to download sensitive business documents. Seems harmless enough however unsecured wireless networks can allow sensitive data to fall in the wrong hands.

Trusted Network Awareness

With a trusted network awareness, Dan is denied access and advised to use a secure VPN connection via a Digital Guardian real-time user prompt. No danger in allowing sensitive data fall into the wrong hands. Learn more about trusted network awareness >>

Remote Worker Accessing Sensitive DataThe morning starts with Dan from Finance working remotely. Remote workers can put business data at risk, especially if they are accessing unsecured wireless networks. Let’s see what the risks are and what the correct solution is.

Advanced MalwareJen receives a phony email, seemingly from her bank, saying there’s an account issue andproviding an attachment to learn more

Malware Protection with Real-time Phishing Detection

Digital Guardian alerts Jen that the attachment is suspicious, blocks her from opening it, and alerts IT of the suspected malware attack. Learn more about malware protection >>

Incoming Phishing EmailLater that morning Jen receives a phishing email. Phishing emails can cause problems for all that receive these phony emails. Some recipients aren’t even aware that the email might be malicious!

Insecure Web Applications

Tricia attempts to upload sensitive files to her Dropbox so that she can access them from her own laptop at home. She means well, but she may be putting the company’s sensitive data at risk.

Web Applications and Cloud Storage Control

Digital Guardian recognizes that Tricia is trying to send sensitive data to an unauthorized web application and blocks the upload. The company’s authorized cloud storage application is the better solution. Learn more about web app security >>

Uploading Sensitive Data to a Cloud ApplicationA bit later, Tricia is prepping some sensitive documents to take home with her. Uploading sensitive data to a unauthorized cloud application could be a risky way to access data away from the office.

Unrestricted Insider Access to Data

Joe, an IT administrator with root access, is leaving the company and tries to download sensitive design documents to take with him.

Privileged User ControlDigital Guardian allows proper file access for the privileged user, but blocks his attempt to download the sensitive files and alerts staff of the incident. Learn more about privileged user control >>

Systems Administrator Downloading Sensitive FilesToday is Joe’s last day. Around midday, Joe decides he wants to take some sensitive data with him before he goes. The downloading of sensitive files when employees leave a company can put data in the wrong hands. There is a solution.

Drive-by MalwareSusanne in Marketing searches the web for photo editing software. She visits a compromised website and is redirected to a malicious site that starts downloading malware to her machine.

Application ControlThe malware attempts to execute a variety of processes on its own. Digital Guardian detects this activity immediately and automatically blocks the malicious application from running. Learn more about application control >>

Downloading Corrupted Web SoftwareIn the early afternoon, Susanne in Marketing unknowingly downloads malware. Companies today are increasingly reliant on web-based, cloud-based, and third-party applications. Minimizing the risk of downloading malicious application is crucial.

Emailing Sensitive Data

Kevin from Accounting attempts to send payment information via email and MS Outlook auto-populates an unapproved external recipient.

Email Control & Encryption

Kevin clicks send and a real-time Digital Guardian prompt alerts him of the unapproved recipient and requests justification for the action. Learn more about email control and encryption >>

Accidental Emailing of Sensitive DataLater in the afternoon, Kevin from Accounting tries to send a sensitive document to the wrong recipient. Employees can put sensitive data at risk by intentionally or inadvertently sending confidential information via email.

Insecure External Devices

Michelle from Engineering downloads a sensitive CAD file to her USB device to work on it from home later. A potential threat to sensitive data.

Device Control & Encryption

Digital Guardian automatically encrypts the file prior to copying it to the USB. The file now can only be opened with a decryption key. Learn more about device control and encryption >>

Copying Engineering Drawings to a USB DriveIn the late afternoon, Michelle is planning on working from home and downloads sensitive data to an external portable device. USB Drives are a primary vector for data loss. They pose a threat to data and are a potential entry point for malware.

Malicious Insider Modifying Confidential Files

Bill is interviewing with a competitor, so he copies confidential information from a file on a shared network drive and saves it as a new file on his machine.

Automatic Data ClassificationDigital Guardian recognizes that the data was copied from a sensitive file and automatically applies the “Confidential” tag from the source file. This ensures that the new file is protected and can’t leave the company. Learn more about data classification >>

Maliciously Modifying Confidential FilesAt the end of the day, Bill decides that he will save a confidential to use later during an interview with a competitor. Getting to meaningful data classification and protection is essential in reducing the modification of sensitive files.

All in a Day’s Work…

We had a number of threats throughout the day that could have jeopardized the company’s sensitive data. However, we were able to assess the risk and, based on taking preventative measures, we were able to greatly reduce data loss and modification.

Thanks to all of our company’s employees, we were able to learn of many inside threats that we may have not been aware of before.

About Digital Guardian

Digital Guardian Facts

Over 250 customers 130 of the Global 2000 and government agencies

Over 2,100,000 endpoints protected

130 of the Global 2000 and government agencies

Used by 7 of the top 10 patent holders

Only solution to scale to 250,000 agents

Deployment Models Available:• Managed Security Program (MSP)• On Premise• Hybrid MSP

At Digital Guardian, we believe your data is your business. We are the only patented data protection platform trusted by millions of endpoints to secure against insider and outsider threats!

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