Factors to Consider When Choosing a DSPM Tool

Data security posture management (DSPM) is one of the hottest tools on the cybersecurity market. Although a relatively new tool—first introduced in the 2022 Gartner Hype Cycle for Data Security—DSPM has quickly become invaluable for organizations seeking to find and secure sensitive data across increasingly complex environments.

However, DSPM solutions come with a hefty price tag that can seriously strain already overstretched cybersecurity budgets. Organizations considering DSPM must make an informed decision and choose the solution most suitable for their unique needs. In this article, we’ll explore the key factors to consider when selecting a DSPM tool.

What is DSPM?

But first, it’s important to understand just what DSPM is and does. DSPM solutions have arisen out of the complexity of securing sensitive data in complex cloud environments. As organizations increasingly rely on cloud service providers (CSPs) to store data, it’s becoming harder for security teams to keep track of and secure that data, meaning that data and data repositories are often lost, overlooked, and unsecured.

DSPM solutions help protect business data in these diverse technology environments. They help security teams find, classify, and secure data across SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS environments. Similarly, they monitor data and data repositories to assess security postures, identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, and offer security teams insights so they can make better-informed decisions. These capabilities help entities manage their data security posture, shrink the attack surface, improve incident response, and comply with various data protection regulations.

Choosing the Right DSPM Solution

Now that you better understand what DSPM is and does, you should better understand whether these tools are right for your business. If your organization struggles with a complex IT environment and the challenges of securing data within it, DSPM could be a worthwhile investment. So, here’s what you need to consider when choosing a solution.

Coverage of Data Services

For a DSPM solution to be effective, it needs to deliver a wide range of data services. Or at least the data services your organization uses. While DSPM solutions emerged primarily to secure cloud data, many are equally helpful for protecting on-premises data centers and hybrid architectures. In short, organizations must ensure that the DSPM solutions they choose can secure data across all their environments and integrate seamlessly with all their data sources.

Location of Data Analysis

Different organizations will be subject to different regulatory requirements. These regulations often dictate where organizations can analyze their data – the more stringent a regulation, the more secure a data analysis location must be. As such, entities must choose DSPM solutions that support their data analysis needs.

For example, organizations subject to the strictest data privacy regulations – such as those operating in the finance, healthcare, or government sectors – will likely need to use DSPM tools that conduct on-premises data analysis. This approach offers greater control over data privacy and security and reduces the risk of data exposure, but it comes with significant infrastructure and maintenance costs.

Alternatively, entities with less intense regulatory obligations may want to conduct cloud-based analysis. Cloud-based DSPM offers greater scalability and flexibility than on-premises DSPM tools, leveraging CSP infrastructure to perform real-time monitoring, threat detection, and compliance checks. That said, they don’t offer the security and peace of mind of on-premises tools.

The third option is to choose a DSPM solution with hybrid analysis capabilities. This approach involves analyzing sensitive data on-premises and less critical data in the cloud to provide a balance between security and flexibility. While not all DSPM solutions will offer this capability, if hybrid data analysis is a priority for your business, you will be able to find a vendor.

Permission Management

It’s also crucial to choose a DSPM solution that offers granular control over data permissions and allows security teams to enforce strict access policies and monitor for security violations. Look for tools with capabilities that include setting access controls based on roles, departments, and individual users, support the principle of least privilege, and incorporate role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC).

Additionally, DSPM tools should offer the following capabilities:

• Dynamic Permission Management: DSPM tools adjust permissions automatically as user roles or data sensitivity changes, maintaining compliance and security.
• Permission Monitoring and Auditing: Continuous monitoring helps detect unauthorized access attempts, send alerts for suspicious activities, and generate reports for compliance.
• Automated Permission Remediation: Upon detecting permission-related issues, DSPM tools can automatically revoke or adjust access, aligning with security policies and reducing IT teams' workloads.

Integration and Alignment

Finally, potential buyers must ensure the DSPM tool’s capabilities align with business needs and can integrate with existing solutions, particularly identity and access management (IAM) tools. You should speak with vendors directly to ensure their solution fulfills both of these requirements.

Conclusion

Purchasing a DSPM solution is a significant investment. It’s crucial to choose the one that works best for your business. It’s equally important to work with a trusted vendor. You can learn more about top DSPM providers on the Gartner Peer Insights page for DSPM. This resource will give you a birds-eye view of the DSPM market and insight into the efficacy of its leading vendors. 

The key takeaway here is that choosing a DSPM solution must not be a rash decision. Choosing the wrong tool can result in wasted finances or, worse, security issues. Choosing the right one can offer substantial financial and security benefits for years to come.