The worldwide cost of cybercrime is predicted to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025, indicating a serious risk to modern-day goldmine – data. Numerous data privacy regulations require organizations to secure sensitive data. However, safeguarding this data is a task that demands a robust data security posture.
Today, a cyberattack occurs every 39 seconds, resulting in an average of 2,244 attacks per day. Data transfers continue to rise, luring attackers. Behind this risk are data privacy requirements that compel organizations to implement comprehensive data security procedures, thereby enhancing an organization’s data security posture against emerging threats.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the United States’ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), among others, are renowned data privacy laws that mandate a robust data security posture.
Enter Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) – a modern strategy that secures data in complex on-premises, hybrid, and cloud settings. The strategy classifies and categorizes data, identifies shadow data and data silos, remediates data security risks, assists enterprises in meeting regulatory requirements, enables scalability, and more.
What Is DSPM?
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) refers to a cyber-secure data-first strategy backed by a number of automated technologies that enable enterprises to efficiently find, categorize, monitor, and safeguard sensitive data across cloud and hybrid environments.
Gartner describes DSPM as “visibility into where sensitive data is, who has access to it, and how it is being used. DSPM delivers a full perspective of an organization’s data security posture, its compliance status, security and privacy issues, and, critically, how to deal with them.” This enables teams to create rigorous controls and policies that successfully minimize them.
DSPM integrates with the latest security standards to meet the evolving legal requirements of global data protection and AI regulations, including the EU’s GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, and the EU AI Act, among others. This alignment enables the adoption of comprehensive security measures that secure sensitive data.
Learn more about what is DSPM.
Navigating Compliance Challenges with DSPM
Ensuring regulatory compliance extends beyond traditional approaches, particularly since the anticipated yearly costs of cybercrime globally are predicted to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015.
This rapidly increasing number requires enterprises to demonstrate control over their data assets and develop methods to respond promptly to mandates from regulators, security breaches, or audits. Common issues faced by compliance teams include:
- Gaining complete insights into data assets by recognizing and categorizing sensitive data across numerous contexts.
- Determining whether access restrictions exist. If they do, who has access to sensitive data, and whether a least-privilege access architecture exists inside the business.
- The applications, networks and systems that are connected across the enterprise and whether any misconfigurations or policy violations occur in real time.
- Whether staff have undergone security training and are aware of existing global data privacy laws and anticipated modifications.
As data sprawls throughout the digital environment, spanning SaaS apps, cloud storage, databases, and endpoints, these difficulties intensify. As a result, organizations must:
A. Gain Full Visibility into Data Assets
A data-first strategy requires enterprises to be well aware of where their data lives, particularly sensitive data. As sensitive data is subject to additional controls, start identifying sensitive data across various data points. These include on-premises, cloud, and hybrid settings.
DSPM technologies are designed to identify data, map data flows across residency, and categorize data based on its sensitivity (public, internal, confidential, and restricted), thereby aiding in compliance with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA.
B. Continuously Monitor Data Posture
In a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape with increasing attack vectors, enterprises must regularly assess and update their data security posture. With fast-evolving dynamics, even a robust data security posture might become unsafe.
Organizations should employ DSPM to continuously monitor how data is acquired, processed, transmitted across networks and systems, and shared within the company, among teams, and with third parties. Real-time monitoring enables the quick identification of anomalies, vulnerabilities, high-risk vectors, and misconfigurations that may lead to non-compliance or data breaches.
C. Enforce Policy-Driven Controls
Tools are valueless if there is a lack of policy regulating who or what may access data and assets, and what actions are authorized once access is given. DSPM automates policy enforcement by aligning an organization’s data handling procedures with regulatory obligations. Organizations can also acquire real-time notifications when data use violates compliance regulations.
One key feature of a DSPM tool is its ability to address both active and inactive risks. A robust DSPM tool provides granular insights into data assets, enabling the prioritization and remediation of issues such as exposed Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or overly permissive access, before cyber attackers can exploit the vulnerability and lead to unnecessary data exposure, or auditors can identify them and lead to noncompliance penalties and a bad rating.
E. Generate Audit-Ready Reports
Regulations mandate yearly evaluations and audits. DSPM products expedite compliance reporting by delivering complete insights, visuals, and dashboards that document and illustrate your organization’s data security posture and policy adherence.
In essence, DSPM converts an organization’s reactive compliance strategy into a proactive governance approach. This coordination is crucial for mitigating risk and staying compliant with regulatory obligations.
How DSPM Helps Ensure Compliance with GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and HIPAA
This is how DSPM meets regulatory requirements, streamlining compliance:
A. Automated Discovery and Classification of Data
DSPM tools are engineered to discover data. Once discovered, it can automatically scan and sort personal and sensitive data from both structured and unstructured sources, putting it into groups including personal identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), and payment card information (PCI).
GDPR – Article 30 (Records of Processing Activities)
Article 30 of the GDPR addresses the requirement to maintain records of processing activities.
Under Article 30 of the GDPR, controllers and processors must maintain complete records of their processing operations and be able to provide these documents to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) upon request.
How DSPM helps: It automatically finds and sorts personal data on cloud, SaaS, and on-premise systems, ensuring accurate and up-to-date records.
CCPA/CPRA – Section 1798.110 (Right to Know)
The CPRA broadens the CCPA's right to know. The CPRA permits consumers to request access to personal information obtained on or after January 1, 2022, regardless of the original 12-month limit under the CCPA. Businesses must disclose the types and sources of personal information they gather.
How DSPM helps: Maps data flows and categorizes personal information, making it easier to meet access and information disclosure demands.
HIPAA – Risk Analysis (45 CFR §164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A)), (Access Control) 45 CFR §164.312(a)(1), Audit Controls (45 CFR §164.312(b))
HIPAA requires covered organizations and business associates to conduct a thorough and accurate assessment of potential threats to ePHI. It also involves technological regulations to enable access only to individuals with proper privileges, and systems must record and evaluate activities in systems that include or use ePHI.
How DSPM helps: Data discovery automation enables enterprises to determine where PHI exists and who has access to it, thereby imposing the least-privileged access.
B. Data Subject Rights and Access Requests
GDPR – Articles 12–22 (Informed, Access, Rectification, Erasure, Restriction, Data Portability, Object, Automated Decision-Making, and Profiling)
Individuals have the right to access, rectify, erase, or restrict the processing of their personal data.
How DSPM helps: Enables the exact location and categorization of personal data, which is vital for processing Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) efficiently and accurately.
CCPA/CPRA – Section 1798.105 (Right to Deletion)
Consumers can request erasure of their personal data.
How DSPM helps: Identifies all instances of a user’s personal data, guaranteeing correct erasure across contexts.
HIPAA - 45 CFR §164.524 (Access of Individuals to PHI)
Patients have the right to see their medical records.
How DSPM helps: Locates PHI across systems, providing rapid and comprehensive replies to patient access requests.
C. Security and Risk Management
DSPM systems give real-time insight into where sensitive data sits and how it's flowing. This includes notifications on risky activities, such as unencrypted data, over-permissive access, or data shared outside, which is crucial to staying proactive under CCPA and GDPR.
GDPR - Article 32 (Security of Processing)
Requires the deployment of adequate technological and organizational measures to safeguard personal data.
How DSPM helps: Continuously scans for misconfigurations, unencrypted data, and hazardous permissions. Provides notifications and remedy paths for violations.
CCPA/CPRA – Section 1798.150 (Data Breach Liability)
Businesses may be held accountable for failing to establish adequate security measures.
How DSPM helps: Detects and helps repair vulnerabilities (e.g., excessive permissions, data exposure), enabling a defensible security posture.
HIPAA - 45 CFR §164.306 & §164.308 (Security Standards and Risk Analysis)
Requires covered entities to undertake frequent risk assessments and apply protections.
How DSPM helps: Offers real-time visibility into security posture and enables automated risk analysis through extensive reporting and mitigation tools.
D. Audit Trails and Documentation
GDPR – Article 5(2) (Accountability Principle)
Organizations must demonstrate compliance with GDPR principles.
How DSPM helps: Provides continuous records and audit trails of data activity, access, and policy breaches.
HIPAA – 45 CFR §164.312(b) (Audit Controls)
Requires the adoption of measures to record and evaluate system activities.
How DSPM helps: Tracks data access and policy changes, keeping an audit trail that meets HIPAA audit standards.
E. ROT Data Minimization
ROT Data refers to data that is Redundant: Unnecessary copies or duplicates. Obsolete: Outdated or no longer relevant. Trivial: Low-value, non-business-critical data. Such data raises storage costs, poses security and compliance issues, and violates data minimization standards.
GDPR – Art. 5(1)(c) – Data Minimization & Art. 5(1)(e) – Storage Limitation
Personal data should be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed and kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed.
How DSPM Helps: Identifies and eliminates data not essential for the purpose or held beyond what is necessary.
CCPA/CPRA – §1798.100(c) – Purpose/Retention Limitation & §1798.110(c) – Data Retention Requirements
How DSPM Helps: Ensures only relevant, time-bound data is stored; identifies over-retention.
HIPAA – §164.306(a) – General Security Standards & §164.310(d)(2)(i) – Device & Media Controls (Data Disposal)
How DSPM Helps: Reduces the surface area of PHI by clearing out old or superfluous data.
F. Data Breach Management
Real-time detection, audit trails, impact assessments, automatic alarms, reporting, and more.
GDPR – Art. 33 – Breach Notification to Supervisory Authority & Art. 34 – Notification to Data Subjects
How DSPM Helps: Enables breach discovery and notification within 72 hours; identifies impacted data subjects.
CCPA/CPRA – §1798.150 – Civil Action for Breach
How DSPM Helps: Helps illustrate appropriate security policies; enables breach notification.
HIPAA – §164.400–414 – Breach Notification Rule
How DSPM Helps: Provides incident timeframes, affected PHI list, and supports the 60-day notice requirement.
G. Access Control and Least Privilege Enforcement
Regulations like HIPAA and GDPR stress minimizing access to sensitive data. DSPM helps enforce least-privilege principles, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access the data.
GDPR – Article 32 – Security of Processing
Requires procedures to maintain data confidentiality and access limits.
CCPA/CPRA – § 1798.100(e)
Mandates data minimization and transparency of access.
HIPAA – §164.312(a)(1) – Technical Safeguards – Standard Access Controls
Mandates the implementation of technical policies and procedures to allow access only to those persons or software programs that have been granted access rights.
How DSPM Helps: Identifies where sensitive data (e.g., PII, PHI) resides across cloud, on-prem, and SaaS systems, analyzes who has access to what data and flags over-permissioned identities, automatically recommends or enforces policies that reduce access to only what's necessary, detects anomalies (e.g., sudden access by unauthorized users or systems) and provide real-time alerts.
In short, a robust DSPM tool automates data discovery and classification at scale, enables organizations to gain contextual data access intelligence, automate policy-based access controls, enable safe AI data access in SaaS and enterprise applications, and ensure data access compliance with regulatory requirements. Learn more about a CISO’s Guide to Data Access Governance.
Automate Compliance with Securiti DSPM
As regulatory pressure increases and data environments grow more complex, organizations can no longer rely on manual methods to ensure compliance. DSPM offers a proactive, automated, and scalable solution to maintaining a continuous data security and privacy posture, not just for GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA, but for any current or future regulation.
Securiti's Data Command Center (rated #1 DSPM by GigaOM) provides a built-in DSPM solution, enabling organizations to secure sensitive data across multiple public clouds, private clouds, data lakes and warehouses, and SaaS applications, protecting both data at rest and in motion.
With Securiti, organizations can leverage contextual data intelligence and controls to discover and classify data, minimize ROT (Redundant, Obsolete, and Trivial) data risk, reduce misconfiguration vulnerabilities, prevent unauthorized data access, understand data flow, and enforce consistent security controls across the data journey, including real-time streaming data, while also managing compliance and breach risk.
Using our extensive library of data connectors, Securiti automatically constructs a knowledge graph that captures rich metadata, regulatory information, policies, processes, and relationships among all these aspects. This powerful knowledge graph, which we refer to as the DataCommand Graph, serves as the single source of truth for data and its associated rich context.
Schedule a demo to learn how Securiti addresses your organization’s unique data security, privacy, and governance needs with a unified Data + AI Command Center.
