Data loss prevention (DLP) is a serious issue for companies, as the number of incidents (and the cost to those experiencing them) continues to increase. Whether it’s a malicious attempt, or an inadvertent mistake, data loss can diminish a company’s brand, reduce shareholder value, and damage the company’s goodwill and reputation.

Whether it’s email, instant messaging, webmail, a form on a website, or file transfer, electronic communications exiting the company still go largely uncontrolled and unmonitored on their way to their destinations – with the ever-present potential for confidential information to fall into the wrong hands. Should sensitive information be exposed, it can wreak havoc on the organisation’s bottom line through fines, bad publicity, loss of strategic customers, loss of competitive intelligence and legal action. All avenues of electronic communication need to be policed to prevent intellectual property, financial information, patient information, personal credit card data, and a variety of sensitive information (depending on the business and the industry) from falling into the wrong hands.

Across all key protocols, a high-performance, intelligent data loss prevention (DLP) solution is a must-have for today’s organisations. Decision-makers should look to vendors with deep expertise in content scanning and select a best-of-breed DLP solution.