Why Intelligent Content is the Key to Unlock the Potential of Data

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, organizations face the critical challenge of maintaining robust data security while ensuring seamless access and collaboration. As businesses become increasingly digitized, the volume of sensitive and confidential information shared across departments, with suppliers and partners, has skyrocketed. This digital transformation brings numerous benefits but also heightens the risk of data loss, leakage, and unauthorized exposure.

The Mounting Threats to Data Security

A recent survey by IDC, Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending, highlights the growing threats to enterprise data. Ransomware remains a significant concern, with 63% of organizations reporting an impact in the past year. More alarmingly, 66% of affected organizations experienced data exfiltration during these attacks. This trend underscores a shift in cybercriminal tactics – they're not just after disruption; they're targeting the data itself.

Insider threats pose another substantial risk. Whether through misconfigured access policies, excess privileges, or malicious intent, the potential for data breaches from within an organization is a constant worry for security teams. The challenge lies in striking the right balance between necessary data access for productivity and robust security measures.

The GenAI Factor

The rapid adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) adds another layer of complexity to data security. While GenAI offers significant benefits in terms of productivity and efficiency, it also exacerbates existing data security risks. Organizations must carefully navigate the integration of GenAI technologies to harness their potential without compromising data integrity and intellectual property.

A New Approach: Content and Context-Aware Protection

To address these challenges, enterprises need a paradigm shift in their approach to data security. Rather than implementing blanket restrictions that hinder productivity, organizations should focus on implementing content and context-based guardrails. This approach involves:

1. Gaining comprehensive visibility into data locations and usage.

2. Identifying and tagging sensitive or confidential information.

3. Measuring and managing risks associated with different data types.

4. Taking targeted action to protect the most critical data assets.

5. Continuously reporting and adjusting security measures based on evolving needs.

Benefits of Intelligent Data Protection

Adopting a content and context-aware approach to data protection offers numerous benefits:

• Reduced time spent on internal audits and consumer requests.
• Better management of data storage and security expenses.
• Faster response and recovery from ransomware attacks.
• Improved compliance with privacy regulations like CCPA and GDPR.
• Enhanced ability to unlock the value of data across the business.

Egnyte's Content Intelligence Platform: A Comprehensive Solution For Data Protection

At Egnyte, we understand the complexities of modern data management and security. Our Content Intelligence Platform is built to fuel productivity and innovation by unlocking insights buried in your organization’s content. Focused on cybersecurity and data protection, we target three critical areas:

1. Data Security: Detection of anomalous behaviors by automatically flagging unusual and suspicious behaviors related to file access, activity, and sharing.
2. Data Governance: Minimizing risk surface area with tailored RAD (retain, archive, delete) policies based on the sensitivity level of the underlying data.
3. Data Privacy: Selective application of “DLP” controls to the most valuable and sensitive information based on AI-powered metadata.

Embracing the Future

As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, the need for intelligent, flexible data protection solutions becomes increasingly critical. By adopting a content and context-aware approach, businesses can unlock the full potential of their data while maintaining robust security measures.

At Egnyte, we're committed to empowering organizations to store, use, and share data securely, supporting privacy and compliance requirements without sacrificing productivity. In an era where data is both a valuable asset and a potential liability, our Content Intelligence Platform offers the comprehensive solution needed to thrive in the digital age.

To read the full IDC Spotlight Paper, ​​Unleashing the Value of Data with Content and Context-Aware Protection, by Jennifer Glenn, Research Director, Security and Trust Group, click here.