Is my definition of "data protection" too simple?

 

So this blogger had the temerity to criticize my definition of the data protection space, which is leak prevention + encryption + device management. If you think about it that is a pretty broad definition of a space. Encryption alone accounts for 35 vendors. To give Rich credit, he truly was the first analyst to cover the data protection space.  He has adopted a “definition” that is really the answer to the question: “how do I ensure that my data is safe?” That is a huge question and involves the entire realm of security products in its answer. So yes, include Digital Rights Management, and access control. You could, although Rich does not, include firewalls, biometrics, and anti-malware. But by doing so you are casting your net too widely. 

 

It is a tricky thing to define a market. It includes observing the vendors that compete and the bake-offs they participate in.  Markets are self organizing.  They are not defined by analysts, but, of course, analysts attempt to define markets because humans  like organization and they like to categorize things.  Admittedly Rich focuses on large enterprises and I focus on vendors, products, and solutions. That gives rise to the differences in our views.

 

We are currently in the midst of a very active time for the data protection space as I have defined it.  Leak prevention companies are partnering with encryption, messaging, and hardware vendors at a rate that is going to require a large map to document.  The primary driver is the disclosure requirements in California 1386, which led to the cacophony of announcements of data loss we have chronicled here-  but, increasingly, it is the realization on the part of the enterprise that bad guys are really targeting their critical information and they better do something to protect it.  

 

This is the early stage of a new security silo.  Recognizing the drivers and the players is important to understanding the space. Keeping it simple will help to do so. I stick to my definition.

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Traveling to Santa Fe this week to join a workshop on the future of Malware. Then it is on to Sonoma for a weekend of picking olives in the rain. I will be in the Bay Area all day Monday, November 6th. Drop me a line if you want to meet up!