How data-security posture management could make your cloud systems less vulnerable

• Companies can face data-security challenges with cloud storage and access management.
• Data-security posture management can help identify risks and protect data.
• This story is part of "Security Playbook," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.

Companies handle troves of data, including financial information, customer details, and proprietary content. While much of that data is stored in the cloud, company leaders might not always know exactly where it is, who all has access to it, or how secure it truly is.

Dan Benjamin, the senior director of product management at Prisma Cloud, a cloud-security platform made by Palo Alto Networks, said that incorporating data-security posture management into cybersecurity strategies could help solve many of these problems.

He described DSPM as a set of cybersecurity technologies that can help companies "discover, understand, and protect their data." This is crucial, as an IBM report published in 2023 estimated that 82% of data breaches involved data stored in the cloud.

Clouds and the data they contain are vulnerable for several reasons. For one thing, Benjamin said, "the sheer amount of data in the cloud is larger than the amount of data that's on-premises," or stored on a company's own hardware. Organizations also often use several cloud systems and sometimes lack a solid security strategy for maintaining, updating, and securing data.

Liat Hayun, the vice president of product management and research of cloud security at the cybersecurity company Tenable, said cloud environments' flexibility makes them attractive to companies. Clouds make it easy for companies to store and move data around, but they're also difficult to monitor.

While DSPM can help, Hayun said, many organizations haven't embraced the technology.

How DSPM safeguards data

Benjamin said DSPM helps organizations answer three key questions: "What data do I have? How is it being used? And how is it being protected?"

Hayun said the software continuously identifies where a company's data resides and classifies it based on its sensitivity level, such as personally identifiable information or intellectual property. It then analyzes the controls around the data, including who has access to it and how secure it is; identifies vulnerabilities; and recommends ways to address a problem.

Julie Madhusoodanan, the head of cybersecurity at LinkedIn, described DSPM as a combination of risk identification, reporting, and mitigation.

"Think of it as having a security guard who regularly checks where your data is stored, who has access to it, and how it's being used," she said.

If something looks off — for example, sensitive information is being stored in the wrong place, or someone has access to data they shouldn't have — DSPM software can alert a company's security or information-technology teams to resolve the issue "before something bad happens," Madhusoodanan said.

Other cybersecurity solutions focus on securing devices or systems that house or process data and often identify vulnerabilities and risks after they happen. Madhusoodanan said DSPM is designed to protect the data itself and "can proactively block risks from being inserted into the system in the first place."

Why DSPM is a beneficial security measure

Any organization that collects, maintains, and processes data — no matter its size or industry — is at risk of a breach, Madhusoodanan said. Investing in DSPM, she added, can help "give organizations a clearer picture of the risk their business is carrying," manage that risk, and heighten security.

For example, LinkedIn uses DSPM to assess threats and plan mitigation strategies. Madhusoodanan said the technology had improved the company's response time and accuracy in addressing vulnerabilities.

Benjamin gave an example of a financial company he worked with: It used DSPM and discovered that some financial reports were being copied to a cloud that belonged to a former employee. The tool identified the issue so the company could secure the data.

Benjamin said DSPM could also reduce the likelihood and impact of a data breach. Breaches can cost a company millions of dollars, damage its reputation, interfere with operations, and cause compliance problems if sensitive data is compromised.

Hayun said DSPM could ensure that companies don't take unnecessary risks with data and make them feel more secure in scaling up their data programs, enabling them to grow their business.

Benjamin said that while DSPM could benefit most companies, the technology is especially advantageous for those in regulated industries, such as finance or health, or with a lot of customer data.

Some companies face challenges implementing DSPM

Companies implementing DSPM tech can struggle with hiring the appropriate staff, lacking internal resources, selecting a DSPM vendor or tool, and getting executive buy-in, according to a report from Normalyze, a DSPM provider.

Madhusoodanan said that DSPM strategies can't be implemented in silos and that stakeholder buy-in is critical. "This is where leaders face the biggest friction and why fostering a security-centric culture is key to getting leaders on board," she said.

She added that it's essential to ensure everyone across an organization understands and is focused on the company's data-protection strategies so that the organization can make accurate risk-mitigation decisions.

Hayun said DSPM enabled organizations to use data effectively and securely — and in compliance with regulatory bodies.

"They can build guardrails around how the data is used and allow their teams to run within those guardrails without concern," she said.