5 Reasons Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Should Be A Part Of Your IT Security Toolkit

By Farokh Karani, Director, North America – Sales & Channels, Quick Heal Technologies

Over the last couple years, security breaches have rocked the business landscape. Sensitive data — from high-profile retailers and financial institutions to lesser known mom-and-pop shops — fell into the hands of global thieves and hackers, affecting millions of consumers and company employees. Indeed, it has been a challenging time for data privacy and security, and the massive thefts served as a wake-up call for organizations around the world.

Unfortunately, the problem isn’t going away. With the dramatic increase in data volume comes the associated rise in opportunities for theft — and accidental disclosure — of sensitive information. While the amount of electronic data in the world was thought to double every four years, research firm IDC says it actually does so after every two years. The firm says by 2020, the digital universe — the data we collectively create annually — will reach 44 zettabytes, or 44 trillion gigabytes. Add in recent increases in the portability of data and employee mobility and the danger is even more acute. As such, it’s clear to see why Gartner assigns data loss prevention (DLP) as the fastest growing security segment, with an annual growth rate of 18.9 percent through 2018.

The damage to a company from a data breach can be catastrophic, ranging from loss of intellectual property, to drops in sales and market share and a potentially fatal blow to an organization’s reputation. In addition, expensive lawsuits and costly penalties for failing to comply with strict data protection regulations are also on the rise. Industry analysts, however, have struggled to put a number on the actual cost of data loss, with estimates ranging (wildly) from $0.58 to $201 per record.

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