DSPM vs Legacy Tools

In typical organizations, security teams invest a lot of money in various point solutions. For instance, an organization would invest in a CSPM solution for cloud configuration management, a DLP solution for data leak prevention, and an SIEM for event monitoring, and it may also simultaneously invest in a CNAPP solution for container security. Despite all those investments and solutions, one critical issue remains unsolved: sensitive data security.

Sensitive data lives across different repositories, which may be known or unknown. As a result, oftentimes, misconfigurations go unnoticed, and security alerts from different platforms rarely intersect with any data-centric risks. DSPM solutions fill this void by seamlessly integrating with different security platforms.

DSPM vs. CSPM

DSPM solutions provide data-centric security. It protects sensitive data across hybrid, multicloud environments. It can automatically discover and mitigate vulnerabilities associated with privacy and compliance. Cloud security posture management (CSPM), on the contrary, helps organizations secure their cloud infrastructures, such as VMs, IAM roles, and buckets, from risks like misconfigurations and general compliance issues. DSPM can help organizations to prioritize the alerts generated by CSPM tools based on sensitive data.

DSPM vs. CNAPP

Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) are known for unifying multiple security capabilities to provide a comprehensive approach to cloud application security. For instance, a CNAPP platform would offer CSPM, DSPM, runtime security, and workload protection. DSPM can help CNAPP narrow the lens to the data itself. For instance, a CNAPP platform identifies a container as vulnerable. DSPM will see if the container contains sensitive data or not. If it contains sensitive data, DSPM will help prioritize it by first spotting if the data is encrypted or not, and lock it for automated remediation.

DSPM vs. DLP

DSPM solutions often come with DLP-like capabilities, including but not limited to encryption and access controls. In fact, the solution may also go beyond those capabilities to offer functionalities like data breach analysis, mapping configurations, and remediation of misconfigurations across multicloud environments. Typically, DLP usually focuses on the prevention of unauthorized data sharing and exfiltration attacks in a single environment. Integrated DSPM solutions go beyond the identification of data leakage issues, offering insights into data residency, access insights, and automated remediation.

DSPM vs. SIEM

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) analyzes event data to discover anomalies and suspicious behavior. These tools specialize in log collection, correlation, and threat detection. DSPM helps protect sensitive data at the source by ensuring robust access controls and policies, preventing threats before they materialize.