Proofpoint Melds DLP with Encryption

As part of an effort to simplify the practical application of data encryption, Proofpoint has added the ability to automatically determine when certain data should be encrypted as it is about to leave the enterprise.

Version 6 of Proofpoint extends the company’s policies of the company’s data loss prevention (DLP) system to automatically encrypt data based on policies set by the IT organization. Should an end user attempt to e-mail data containing any words that are deemed to be sensitive by the IT organization, version 6 of Proofpoint’s software will automatically encrypt that data. Here's a snap of a Proofpoint dashboard.

End users receiving that e-mail with then have to authenticate themselves against a service that Proofpoint manages on behalf of its customers.

In addition, Proofpoint has enhanced the DLP review process by allowing IT organizations to set policies where certain individuals in the company can review files with certain words or phrases that have been flagged by the system.

According to company product marketing manager Ken Liao, Proofpoint is also trying to make it economically attractive to replace separate encryption and DLP systems as well. Pricing for an implementation for an organization with 5,000 to 10,000 mail inboxes is less than $17 per user.