Network security and data loss prevention have become increasingly important in running your business. Unfortunately, though, it’s also been more difficult to prevent hackers from accessing your network.
According to Bits, a New York Times blog, there were 621 confirmed data breaches and over 47,000 reported security incidents in 2012. But Verizon’s 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) unveils that, in 2013, those numbers rose to 1,367 and 63,427, respectively.
Of the confirmed data breaches last year, 35 percent were in the form of Web app attacks, 22 percent were cyber espionage, 14 percent were POS intrusions, 9 percent were card skimmers, and 8 percent came from insider misuse.
Data loss prevention tools – or DLP tools – are designed to detect and prevent unauthorized transmission of data to outside parties. These tools process highly classified or sensitive information, and they are prevalent with government agencies as well as banking and insurance companies.
What Does Threat And Data Breach Prevention Do, Exactly?
The term data loss prevention seems fairly self-explanatory, but there is a number of components that go into these network tools. A formidable DLP tool constantly monitors your network for threats and recommends suitable rules to optimally safeguard your data. Such a product should:
- Provide complete visibility into your applications, content, hosts, network behavior, operating systems, protocols, users, and more.
- Control your applications, execute mobile polices, thwart social media threats, and reduce the attack surface.
- Leverage security automation to fight attacks and breaches more swiftly and efficiently.
- Automatically recommend security-unique rules for your network and give you the ability to create and modify rules and signatures.
With data loss prevention tools protecting your network, you have far less risk of breaches and attacks, but it’s very important that these tools connect to your network properly. A DLP tool’s ability to have complete visibility into your network is essential. SPAN ports are common connection devices, but they do not give you the connectivity you need and have fundamental vulnerabilities and complexities.
A network TAP, on the other hand, gives the tool complete visibility into the flow of traffic on your network and requires little to no configuration on your part. Once installed, your DLP tool has 100-percent data capture. It receives exact copies of your network traffic, layer one and two errors, and malformed packets, ensuring your network’s strength. In addition, network TAPs are far more secure, with no IP address and no way for an attacker to know about the presence of data loss prevention tools on your network.
As data breaches continue to rise, your network’s security is only going to become more important. Data breach prevention is critical to protect your information and safeguard the sanctity of your network and business.
Want to learn more about the many network tools that help you manage your network? Download What Your Network Is Missing: 7 Tools To TAP