The Gartner Hype Cycle evaluates different types of data security applications. One of those categories is a Data Security Platform. In this article, we will review what that means in the context of securing data and why it is so important to choose a product that really demonstrates this level of protection.
- A platform should provide its capabilities for as many of the use cases and environments as you need to serve and have the ability to extend to new ones in the future
- Data security should actually protect your sensitive data, no matter where it is stored or how it is being transmitted
Let’s start with the word “platform”. Like the word implies in the physical world, a platform is something on which other things can be built. In the software world, this is generally something on which other applications can depend on to provide a certain level of capability. When we see a platform which has limitations on what it can support (i.e. only support cloud and not on-premises implementation or has limited support for database engines or file types), it always is a cause for concern about how much of a platform it really is. In the case of protecting sensitive data, we generally want a solution that protects all of our data the same way and with as little configuration as possible.
Data security is even more straight forward. The words imply that your data is secure. But what does this really mean? Well, it should mean that your sensitive data (the stuff you want to protect) is secure no matter where it is stored and no matter how it is transmitted or used. It should only be seen by people who NEED to see it and should not be available to anyone else. Sensitive data should be protected with a rule that says “deny all, except those who should see it and only on devices that are legitimate.”
There are other methodologies that Gartner talks about like Data Loss Prevention which provide other means for protecting data, but require constant tweaking of configurations and may only be as successful as the people who are managing it while still leaving lots of other means for sensitive data to be stolen. The truth is, with a real data security platform, even if sensitive data is exfiltrated from your organization, it is still worthless to the individuals who have stolen it.
When OnData set out to build a true Data Security Platform, it took these responsibilities and capabilities to heart. The OnData Data Security Platform (DSP) proactively protects your data no matter where it is and no matter how it is transmitted. It does this using a “configure once, protect everywhere” mechanism that ties directly to your identity and access management (IAM) system. It is the only system that uses a “deny all / allow only authorized” methodology to not only make sure your data is protected from known threats, but from all threats.