Varonis Update Guides Business Policy Creation, Enforcement

Version 4.0 automates protection of unstructured data

• By James E. Powell
• 02/10/2009

Varonis Systems Inc. has tightly coupled the features in its DatAdvantage and DataPrivilege products in version 4.0, simplifying protection of unstructured data. The update helps reduce errors, improve accountability, and decrease data loss risk. Varonis says that by automating the major steps required to protect data, its products help a business get up and running “with a framework for managing, protecting and monitoring file share data within hours.” The software can identify who is responsible for unstructured data, build a policy for control of that data, and show which users have accessed the data.

The program generates audit reports about data and makes it easy for a data owner to see who has access to the secured data; this is especially important in light of a 2008 Ponemon Institute study of unstructured data practices that found that 84 percent of organizations believe their unstructured data is accessible by people with no business need for access, and 91 percent report being challenged to identify who owns their unstructured data. Audit reports also assist in compliance efforts.

For example, the software allows a data owner to grant permission to a user for a set period of time, after which the permission is removed. This is ideal for short projects where limited permission is needed, and eliminates the need for administrators to remember (and then remove) the permission after the expiration date and helps administrators deal with the growth in data volumes and user permissions they must manage.

The new versions permit one-click assignment of data ownership and data owners explicitly authorize or reject access. The software also simplifies granting permission to groups of users. You can right-click on a folder to view, edit, or assign data user permissions, or drag-and-drop a user name to a folder to assign permission. Data owners must explicitly accept or reject permission requests, and owners can run reports to review such requests.

More information about DatAdvantage and DataPrivilege can be found at http://www.varonis.com.