Caveat

Busting the 10 Myths About Data Protection

Whether from security breaches or careless insiders, data protection is on the mind of every CIO these days. However, many don't know that it's steeped in misconceptions.

By Jim Haskin, CIO, Websense

PAGE 3

Myth No. 8
If I deploy information leak prevention technology I will be overrun with false positives.
The ability to discern between real leaks and business as usual is crucial to maintaining the balance of security and operational effectiveness. Certainly some information leak prevention solutions have a high rate of false positives (and negatives). To avoid the high and costly rate of false positives and negatives, look for a solution that has accurate detection capabilities for both structured and unstructured data. Make sure it has a granular set of policy controls and mature enforcement capabilities to ensure you can set and enforce policies around the user, the data, the destination, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.

Myth No. 9
Only regulated industries need information leak prevention technology.
Consumer data is not the only information companies need to worry about. Every organization has intellectual property that is critical to protect. If an entertainment company lost an important script or a clothing company leaked next year's designs, the loss could be staggering to the business.

Myth No. 10
Information leak prevention technology will solve all my data leakage problems.
Information leak prevention technology provides a method for discovering where sensitive data resides and then preventing that data from leaving the organization via common communication methods like e-mail and instant messaging. However, the technology must be used in concert with employee education and can be used with technologies such as document rights management, encryption, endpoint security and, of course, physical security measures. The goal of information leak prevention is to vastly reduce the risk of data leaks and to provide a way for companies to track and respond to critical violations quickly.

Jim Haskin is the chief information officer for Websense. He is responsible for all aspects of Websense's IT direction and execution, including operations, infrastructure, applications and internal customer support functions.

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