Being breached no longer a question of “if” but “when”

Though all companies that possess sensitive data are under threat of being breached, some industries are more vulnerable—financial, health, and government information are the most likely to be stolen. Filip Cotfas, Channel Manager, CoSoSys, talks about Data Loss Prevention (DLP).

How important is Data Loss Prevention and what are the industries that should go in for it?

Data protection is critical these days with data having both an increasing value and volume. We have seen that data breaches can have drastic consequences regardless of the size of the business or the industry it belongs to. Nowadays it is vital for enterprises to be proactive and develop a comprehensive data loss prevention strategy before they face a security incident. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions like our Endpoint Protector, can help organisations in every industry to ensure that sensitive data remains securely within the corporate network. These solutions help businesses to minimize the risks of insider threats—whether we think about accidental or intentional ones.

There are some industries that are more vulnerable to data breaches; financial, health, and government information are the most likely to be stolen. However, I must mention that all companies that possess sensitive data are under threat of being breached.

Our Endpoint Protector is an award-winning, all-in-one Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution that offers efficient and advanced protection against data leaks, data loss, and data theft. Our product is suitable for businesses of all sizes and it is the go-to solution for organisations that run on hybrid networks due to its cross-platform capabilities. It also provides feature parity, which means customers can get the same features and level of protection for a computer running on Linux or a Mac as they do on a Windows endpoint. Endpoint Protector’s application portfolio includes a variety of functions, from device control, content and context inspection, file tracing and shadowing to password security, scanning data at rest, and many others. We keep integrating new features and upgrading existing functionalities of our products, as our main aim to help organizations reduce cybersecurity risks and to better protect their confidential information. We distribute our products globally through partners, resellers and directly to users through our online portal. We also enjoy an ever-expanding global user base.

We are entering an age of 100% digitization. How will the data analysis and protection industry look in the 2020s?

We are well past the point of realization that data analysis and data loss prevention solutions are valuable. In fact, there’s no escape from the growing reliance on such technologies. In today’s constantly changing cyber environment, when exploitation activities are getting more sophisticated, more targeted and more serious, in the absence of an in-depth defence strategy, being breached is no longer a question of “if” but “when”. On the other side, multiple countries including California, Brazil, and India are implementing regulations inspired by the EU’s GDPR and this movement is likely to continue in the future. Consumer awareness about data protection is also increasing, thus triggering a much greater conversation about what data privacy means, and how it is applied. What we can expect in the future is that the stakes for data protection and compliance will raise even more with respect to the collection, use, retention, disclosure, and disposal of personal information. Organisations worldwide can expect to face rising costs and increasing risks associated with their data security and privacy practices.

How soon do you think India and the world will embrace Industry 4.0 and how will the Internet of Things change the way data is analysed and protected?

The Industry 4.0 revolution is already ongoing, and different countries took different journeys to digitalise with some of them being still in their infancy. It is clear that on the longer term, organisations that do not embrace it are at great risk of being disrupted. In my opinion Industry 4.0 is a huge opportunity to India as it provides potential to advance economic growth and enhance human well-being. With the Internet of Things (IoT), businesses have a huge influx of data to comprehend. From my perspective, IoT and data analysis used together can provide breakthroughs, including revenues, competitive gain and customer engagement. However, on the other hand, regulatory demands are getting stricter, users’ data protection needs are evolving and issues regarding data security are becoming more significant.

With India adopting Aadhaar and China's facial recognition, what more can governments do to protect citizens' data?

Regulatory frameworks need to ensure data protection while also encouraging innovation, digitalisation and the adoption of new technologies. Countries all around the world have started to propose and enact privacy laws or to update their existing regulation. Here I would like to mention the EU’s GDPR which is a landmark privacy law and has created a far-reaching ripple effect. Under GDPR, information collected from a person’s facial features is classified as biometric data, which is labelled as “sensitive personal data.” What we have been witnessing lately is that data privacy laws are placing more emphasis on consent. Citizens should always know what personal data will be collected, how it will be used, as well as they should have the freedom to opt-out.

How are our cybersecurity solutions changing in this era of rapid digital transformation?

With the growing use of digital technologies such as the cloud, big data, IoT and artificial intelligence in more and more industries comes greater challenges on the level of security and compliance; regulations have to ensure that organizations effectively tackle them. A key for success in this ever changing and competitive environment is knowledge and timely adoption of upcoming trends. Key players in the cyber security industry are investing in the development of advanced solutions like security and vulnerability management, risk and compliance management, data loss prevention, encryption etc. Cybersecurity solutions should not only respond to the requirements of the digital landscape, but also forecast the evolution of cyber threats.