Beyond Discovery: Why DSPM is the Key to Data Security Insights & Action

Security teams face a big challenge in today’s evolving digital landscape: securing highly sensitive data across sprawling and complex environments. The days of generic and controlled security solutions are gone. Cloud adoption, SaaS data sprawl, and expanding data environments mean that sensitive information is constantly moving and shared—often without clear visibility or access control.

This is where data security tools like Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) save the day. But to clarify - "Data security is not just about data discovery; it's really then the insights that you get from that and what actions you take behind it." - Rinki Sethi, VP & CISO at BILL 

Rinki recently joined us for our DataSec 2024 Conference where she provided valuable insights. Take a look at some key themes from her session below.

From Data Discovery to Data Control

Most security professionals know the beginning stages of securing data: you scan datastores, find sensitive data, but then what? That’s the real challenge lurking around data security. Just knowing where your data is doesn’t make it secure. You need to understand it, assess its sensitivity, and take action accordingly. 

A modern DSPM should enable you to:

• Identify and classify sensitive data in real time – Not just structured databases, but across SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, and shadow IT.
• Gauge data access – Who has access? Is that access appropriate? 
• Understand the risk – Is your highly sensitive data sitting in a public environment? Are there misconfigurations, excessive permissions, or threats?

Security Teams Don’t Need More Data to Decipher—They Need Actionable Insights

One of the most common pain points for security professionals is false positives. Traditional security tools flood teams with alerts, many of which lack context or prioritization. A modern AI- powered DSPM doesn’t only provide alerts but goes beyond and provides actionable intelligence.

For example:

• Instead of just telling you, “This database contains PII,” DSPM should tell you, “This database contains unencrypted PII, is accessible by external accounts, and hasn’t been looked at in months.”

Security professionals don’t need a bigger tech stack—they need smarter tools that drive actionable outcomes.

Bridging the Gap Between Security and Compliance

For CISOs, balancing security with compliance requirements can be a challenge. DSPM can bridge this gap by continuously monitoring actual data security risks instead of just checking compliance boxes. It helps answer critical questions:

• Are we meeting compliance regulations on a daily basis?
• What is our biggest data security exposure today, and how do we fix it?
• Can we proactively enforce access controls without disrupting business operations?

The Future of Data Security

As data environments become more complex, security teams need solutions that can scale to the challenge. DSPM is evolving beyond mere discovery, and into a proactive security strategy—one that continuously assesses and remediates risks without straining security teams.

Data security is not a one time strategic implementation. It is a continuous cycle of discovery, insight, and action. For security professionals, the focus shouldn’t just be on where data lives, but on how it’s being used, who has access, and what actions are needed to protect it. That’s the real power of DSPM—turning security visibility into security outcomes.

Tune into the DataSec 2024 conference session titled, “Unlocking the Power of Data Discovery” where you can hear Rinki provide her insight and experiences on more from the blog above. 

Want to attend a DataSec conference in person? Check out our list of regional DataSec events coming to a city near you!