Data Security Posture Management

What is DSPM?

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), also known as Cloud Data Security Posture Management (CDSPM), is an innovative approach to data security that focuses on the protection and management of data within multi-cloud environments. Named by Gartner in its 2022 Hype Cycle for Data Security, DSPM addresses one of the most pressing challenges in today’s cloud landscape—comprehensively understanding where all data resides and how it’s safeguarded.

DSPM is fundamentally data-centric, putting the spotlight on the context and content of the data that needs protection. This is particularly crucial when dealing with sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII), medical records or payment records and information.

By utilizing a blend of practices and technologies, DSPM assesses, monitors, and mitigates the risks associated with data stored in cloud data stores. It’s designed to cope with the challenges posed by the rapid proliferation of sensitive data across multiple clouds and various types of cloud storage technologies.

The process starts with discovering all cloud data, followed by its classification based on the type and level of sensitivity. Once classified, the DSPM solutions can detect and alert on violations of data security policies, prioritize these alerts based on their severity, and offer remediation strategies.

DSPM’s primary aim is to ensure that sensitive and regulated data always maintains the correct security posture, irrespective of where it’s stored or moved. This robust approach provides organizations with an effective strategy for securing their cloud data and reinforces their overall cybersecurity defense.

Though DSPM is a relatively new technology, it’s quickly gaining traction as a critical component of the modern cybersecurity toolkit. Understanding the intricacies of DSPM—including its advantages, how it compares to traditional methods, and what to look for in a DSPM solution—can significantly enhance an organization’s defense-in-depth strategy and fortify its data security in the cloud era.

How Does DSPM Work?

There are various key capabilities to enhance the security posture of data in cloud environments. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how DSPM works:

1. Data Discovery: The first step in DSPM is data discovery, which involves identifying where sensitive data is stored in cloud environments across Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Database as a Service (DBaaS) deployments. This could encompass managed cloud warehouses, unmanaged databases running on virtual machines, and object storage platforms like Amazon S3 or Azure Blob. DSPM tools scan the content of the data in these platforms, identifying sensitive records, and thus enabling security teams to understand the storage and processing methods of this sensitive data.

2. Data Classification: Once the sensitive data has been discovered, the next step is to classify it. This involves categorizing the data based on its level of sensitivity and the associated risk. For instance, a dataset containing personally identifiable information (PII) might warrant a higher priority than a dataset containing anonymized user data. By classifying the data in this way, security teams can more effectively manage their data security posture and ensure the right controls are in place.

3. Static Risk Analysis: After classifying the data, the DSPM tool carries out a static risk analysis. This process involves examining the various security configurations and access controls associated with the data stores. The goal is to identify and remediate misconfigurations, improper access controls, and other vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches or unauthorized access. This includes auditing user permissions, identifying over-privileged accounts, enforcing role-based access controls, verifying that data is encrypted, and ensuring proper key management practices.

On top of these core functionalities, DSPM caters to the needs of different organizational teams:

• Global Risk and Compliance Teams: These teams often leverage DSPM for data management, information governance, and privacy. They use the system to support data governance, data quality, data lifecycle management, and to fulfill data subject access rights (DSARs). They also utilize DSPM to ensure compliance with regulations like CCPA and GDPR.
• Security Teams: These teams focus on understanding the data in order to apply the appropriate security controls. They use DSPM for Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Data Access Governance (DAG), and tokenization and format-preserving encryption (FPE) solutions.

DSPM provides an automated, continuous, and accurate approach to data discovery and classification, catering to various data security needs and purposes. It forms a crucial part of a holistic data security strategy, helping organizations to maintain a robust data security posture in today’s complex cloud environments.

Scenarios to Understand DSPM

Sometime cyber security and it’s terms can be very amorphic and hard to comprehend. so here’s a list of possible real life scenario that will help us understand and learn how DSPM can assist organization as part of it’s bigger Information Security Management strategy.

Scenario Title	Real-Life Scenario	How DSPM Helps
Shadow Backups	A database containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is replicated to an unencrypted Amazon S3 bucket.	DSPM can discover all S3 buckets storing sensitive data, classify it (PII, PCI, HIPAA), determine the risk level, and alert the security team.
Risky Data Flows	A PII record is collected via a web app, stored in CosmosDB, backed up to Azure Blob Storage, then enriched and loaded into Azure Synapse and Azure SQL.	DSPM can map the flow of data between services and storage locations, and highlight resources posing a security risk due to overly permissive access rules or data duplication jobs.
Unmanaged Database Migration	A production database is duplicated into a Windows VM during an on-premise database migration. The security team is unaware of the VM running the database.	DSPM can identify that the VM is running a database with sensitive data. When a snapshot is taken and shared, DSPM alerts the SOC team in real-time to prevent data exfiltration.
Snapshot Exfiltration	An orphaned snapshot of an unused database is shared with an unfamiliar account.	DSPM can identify the breach in real-time and alert security teams, who can contain the attacker and prevent further data loss.
Overly-Broad Permissions	An admin gives a large group of users permissions for a specific project on Google Cloud and forgets to revoke it, resulting in access to PII.	DSPM can identify all the data stores containing customer records, allowing security teams to easily see who has access. They can check if a database with sensitive information has been unnecessarily shared with an entire group or organization in Workspace.
Sensitive Data by 3rd Party Service	A data engineering team uses Fivetran to move Salesforce data into BigQuery, and copies a large volume of customer records from BigQuery into a Snowflake data warehouse shared with external vendors.	DSPM can map the principals, SaaS products, and vendors who can access each data store, allowing security teams to monitor sensitive data flows. The security team detects the PII being moved into Snowflake, and can immediately understand the access patterns leading to the incident.
Healthcare Data Exposure	A healthcare institution stores sensitive patient data in a local server, but does not encrypt or limit access to this server.	DSPM can identify servers with sensitive data, evaluate their security measures, alert the security team about the risk, and suggest mitigation steps like encryption and access control.
Personal Cloud Storage Misuse	An employee uses a personal Dropbox account to store sensitive project files for convenience, bypassing the company’s security measures.	DSPM can track the movement of sensitive data, detect unauthorized storage locations like personal cloud accounts, and alert the security team to take appropriate action.
Third-Party App Risk	A third-party app connected to a company’s Slack workspace accidentally gains access to messages containing sensitive company information.	DSPM can monitor access rights given to third-party apps, alert the security team when sensitive data is accessed, and help to revoke unnecessary permissions.
Software Update Breach	A retail company fails to update its online store software, resulting in a breach of customer credit card information.	DSPM can monitor software versions, identify outdated software handling sensitive data, and prompt the security team to update the software to prevent potential data breaches.
Automating Data Cataloging	An organization’s entire data needs to be cataloged, a process which is difficult and time-consuming when done manually.	DSPM uses data discovery tools to analyze, discover and classify data across an organization, accurately and quickly. It can also identify potential risks like data being stored in an unencrypted database, alerting the organization to take necessary action.
Facilitating Compliance and Auditing	Compliance with various security standards and policies such as GDPR, CCPA, and PCI-DSS can be a challenging task.	DSPM ensures your security procedures are up to industry standards, automates audits, and provides real-time incident reporting capabilities to help organizations comply with regulations and respond quickly to data breaches.
Reducing Risk of Data Breaches	Data fragmentation across multiple platforms such as on-premise databases, cloud-based databases, and third-party applications increases the risk of data breaches.	DSPM enables data flow mapping to track data movement, identify weak points and suggest appropriate measures to minimize risk. It also helps in prioritizing risks to effectively allocate resources.
Internal Threat Detection and Response	Internal threats like employees exfiltrating sensitive organizational data or supply chain attacks from third-party libraries can compromise the organization’s data.	DSPM performs real-time data flow analysis, monitors data access activities, detects unauthorized actions, and alerts the organization to take appropriate actions before data is compromised.
External Threat Detection and Response	External threats such as cyber-attacks can target an organization’s sensitive data and cause data breaches.	DSPM continuously monitors the organization’s systems and networks, detects potential threats, and alerts the organization to take appropriate actions in a timely manner.
Risk Prioritization and Reducing Alert Fatigue	Numerous security alerts can lead to alert fatigue in the security teams, causing them to overlook critical issues.	DSPM helps organizations prioritize detected risks based on their sensitivity and impact. This enables security teams to focus on the most critical issues first, reducing alert fatigue.

Why Do I Need a DSPM Solution?

Modern business operations are largely data-driven. As such, the need for robust data security measures to prevent breaches, protect sensitive information, and ensure regulatory compliance has never been more pressing. This is where a Data Security and Protection Management (DSPM) solution comes into play. But why exactly do you need a DSPM solution for your organization? Let’s dig in.

1. Holistic View of Security Posture: DSPM tools provide a comprehensive view of your organization’s security posture, highlighting potential vulnerabilities and weak points across your network, systems, applications, and data. This broad perspective allows you to prioritize security initiatives more effectively.
2. Continuous Monitoring and Detection: Cyber threats are continually evolving and becoming more sophisticated. DSPM solutions offer continuous monitoring capabilities, which can help detect anomalies or breaches as soon as they occur, enabling swift response and minimizing potential damage.
3. Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: Many industries have strict data security regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, etc. A DSPM solution can help ensure your organization is compliant with these rules, thereby avoiding potentially costly fines and damage to your reputation.
4. Proactive Risk Management: Rather than being reactive to breaches after they occur, DSPM allows for proactive management of cyber risk. It identifies vulnerabilities before they can be exploited and helps establish protective measures.
5. Threat Intelligence: DSPM solutions often incorporate threat intelligence, helping you to understand emerging threats and adjust your security posture accordingly.
6. Improved Incident Response: By providing real-time visibility into your security posture, DSPM solutions can help enhance your incident response capabilities. They allow you to identify and respond to security incidents more quickly and effectively, thereby reducing the potential impact on your business.
7. Resource Allocation: Understanding your security posture in detail allows for more effective allocation of your security resources. By identifying which areas of your organization are most at risk, you can ensure that you’re focusing your efforts and investments where they’re most needed.
8. Building Trust: Demonstrating robust data security can build trust with customers, partners, and stakeholders, especially in an era where data breaches are increasingly common and high-profile.