2021 set the record for data breaches: Incidents shot up almost 70% from the previous year and affected the lives of almost 300M people. With data’s increasing importance in business performance, it’s never been more critical for security teams to develop a comprehensive data security strategy.
While that strategy has many pieces, data security software is front and center. From data discovery to endpoint protection, this article gives an orientation of data security solutions in various categories.
Jump to a section…
6 Essential Data Security Software Solutions
Data visibility software
Data encryption software
Password management software
Identity and access management software
Endpoint protection software
Data loss prevention and backup software
Boost your data store visibility
Learn more about how to keep you and your business’ information secure with the Symmetry Systems Complete Guide to Modern Data Security.
6 Essential Data Security Software Solutions
Data visibility
The first step in developing any data security strategy is getting comprehensive data visibility. Without understanding where information assets are and how they flow through IT infrastructure, security teams cannot develop a security architecture that accounts for all the attack vectors they need to defend against. This is why data discovery software is an essential part of the data security tech stack.
One of the top data discovery solutions on the market, Symmetry Systems DataGuard provides security teams visibility into their organization’s data landscape down to the data object level. DataGuard creates a graph of data objects, identities, and permissions — and traces data flows across the entire infrastructure. Through this exhaustive data security posture mapping, DataGuard generates customizable data firewall alerts and granular activity monitoring, enabling security teams to know exactly what is going on with their mission-critical data, their data, at all times. Schedule a demo today to see the power of this platform for yourself.
Data encryption software
Encryption is a pillar of data security. While applying comprehensive encryption to all data is difficult, security teams need to use the encryption strategically. This means understanding and maintaining a delicate balance between an organization’s productivity needs and its security requirements — something that is particularly critical in cloud environments.
For those looking for a dedicated cloud encryption tool, Baffle is one of the best solutions available. Its no-code deployment model enables easy and rapid implementation, and its enterprise-ready functionality provides encryption services at scale with zero impact on performance. Built for cloud and hybrid cloud environments, Baffle is cloud-native for major providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Compute Platform. If you oversee security for an organization with a highly distributed workforce, Baffle is a particularly strong choice.
Password management software
The average employee has to keep track of almost 200 passwords, meaning that a business with just 100 employees has at least 20,000 passwords to manage. Considering that compromised passwords account for over 80% of data breaches, security teams must find and implement a robust password management solution to maintain their organization’s security profile.
Ranked as a top 11 solution by PCMag, LastPass supplies many of the features security teams are looking for in a password management tool. This includes two-factor authentication, secure sharing, dark web monitoring, and password strength analysis functionality. LastPass also has a native password generator that can help users create strong passwords, and it enables admins to oversee users, groups, and security policies from a single hub. Finally, LastPass is easy to use and works well with most browsers and popular platforms.
Identity and access management software
Identity and access management (IAM) solutions are essential for ensuring the relationship between an organization’s tech resources and its employees stays secure. IAM software accomplishes this by restricting data and application access to those who have the appropriate authorization through multi-factor authentication (MFA), identity federation, least privilege-access-based permissioning, single sign-on (SSO), and more.
Designed to help security teams achieve a Zero Trust security posture, Okta delivers enterprise-grade IAM for on-premise, cloud, and hybrid-cloud environments. Consistently named Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for access management, Okta has all the features security teams expect — from adaptive MFA to SSO. In addition to covering the standard bases, Okta provides security teams with advanced features like intelligent security that uses analytics from across their network to surface threats.
Endpoint protection software
From mobile phones to servers, the average security team has to manage 750 endpoints, according to recent research by LogMeIn. This number, already staggering, is set to grow exponentially as more and more devices join the IoT. This means that endpoint protection will become an even higher priority for organizations over the coming years.
Rated a top endpoint security solution by Gartner, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint helps security teams lockdown their endpoint attack surface via their innovative security platform. Bit Defender covers the entire endpoint landscape, enabling teams to manage servers, laptops, desktops, mobile devices, virtual machines, and more. The software also leverages machine learning, behavioral analysis, advanced anti-exploit technologies to detect and thwart malicious activity.
Data loss prevention and backup software
Data loss incidents destroy 40-60% of the small businesses that experience them, and the causes of these events are numerous. Cyberattacks, natural disasters, power outages, and more can all deal serious damage to a company’s data assets. To mitigate the threat of these incidents, security teams must find and deploy effective data loss prevention (DLP) and backup software.
A leading backup solution according to G2, Druva Data Resiliency provides organizations with a centralized hub for the oversight and recovery of data across the entire IT infrastructure — on-premise or otherwise. Druva provides numerous key features that help security teams maintain a resilient data security profile, including remote backup, continuous backup, real-time sync, disaster recovery, and more.
Boost your data store visibility
While each of the six solutions we’ve covered plays an essential role in data security, data discovery software is perhaps the fundamental piece. As we mentioned above — and security experts Chris Castaldo, Mohit Tiwari, and Richard Ford cover in a recent webinar — organizations must build their security strategies by starting from their data and working out.
This is why solutions like Symmetry Systems DataGuard are critical to the data security tech stack. By providing a direct line of sight data at the object level and tracing data flows across the entire organization, DataGuard enables security teams to understand who is accessing their sensitive data and who it’s being used. Without visibility, they’re essentially flying blind.
Reach out to see how DataGuard can help you enhance your data security profile through comprehensive visibility. We’d love to get you set up with a demo immediately.
Share this entry