Keep Sensitive Data Inside Your Organization — Wherever It Lives
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) identifies, monitors, and controls the movement of sensitive data — detecting and blocking unauthorized exfiltration via email, web uploads, cloud sync, removable media, and printing — while providing the visibility needed to investigate data handling incidents.
What RLM Delivers on Data Loss Prevention
DLP is one of the most operationally complex security controls to implement correctly — misconfigured DLP blocks legitimate business workflows; under-configured DLP misses real data leakage. RLM advises on DLP platform selection and the policy design that protects sensitive data without disrupting productivity.
How We Approach Data Loss Prevention
Every Data Loss Prevention engagement starts with what you have today and ends with something running in production — with independent evaluation in between.
Data Classification & Sensitivity Assessment
We assess your sensitive data landscape — regulated data types (PII, PHI, PCI), intellectual property, and confidential business data — and the data flows that create exfiltration risk.
DLP Platform Evaluation
We evaluate DLP platforms — Microsoft Purview DLP, Forcepoint, Symantec DLP, Nightfall, and CASB-integrated DLP — against your data types, enforcement channels, and the integration with your existing endpoint and email security stack.
Policy Architecture Design
We design the DLP policy architecture — detection rules by data type and context, enforcement action by risk level, and the exception workflow that handles legitimate business needs without creating policy bypass habits.
Incident Investigation Workflow
DLP alerts require investigation to determine intent and scope. We design the DLP incident workflow — triage criteria, investigation playbooks, HR coordination procedures, and the escalation path for confirmed data exfiltration.
Data Loss Prevention Evaluation Criteria
What follows is the Data Loss Prevention evaluation checklist we actually use — the criteria that predict outcomes rather than demo well.
Channel Coverage
Data exits through email, web uploads, cloud sync, USB, printing, and screenshots. Evaluate the DLP platform's channel coverage for your highest-risk exfiltration vectors — incomplete coverage creates obvious workarounds.
Policy Precision
DLP policies that are too broad block legitimate business workflows; policies that are too narrow miss real exfiltration. Evaluate the policy tuning process and the false positive management approach for your data types.
Cloud Application Coverage
Most sensitive data moves through cloud applications — M365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Box. Evaluate DLP coverage for your specific cloud application portfolio and the CASB integration that extends DLP to cloud activity.
Endpoint vs. Network DLP
Endpoint DLP monitors activity on devices; network DLP monitors traffic at the perimeter. Evaluate which approach — or combination — is appropriate for your remote workforce percentage and cloud-heavy data environment.
Encryption Blind Spots
DLP cannot inspect encrypted traffic it doesn't control. Evaluate the SSL inspection approach and the encryption blind spots that create data exfiltration pathways invisible to network DLP.
Employee Privacy Considerations
DLP monitoring collects personal communications alongside sensitive business data. Evaluate the privacy policy, employee notification requirements, and the data retention and access governance required for DLP-collected data.
"We had three overlapping security tools doing the same job. RLM helped us rationalize the stack, cut spend by 30%, and actually improve our detection coverage in the process."
No upfront fees, no retainer, and no obligation to act on what we find.
Where This Matters Most
Sector-specific considerations we see repeatedly in security engagements.
A Sample of the Security Providers We Evaluate
RLM is vendor neutral. These are among 600+ providers in our evaluation set — inclusion here is not an endorsement, and we are paid by the provider you choose, not by any provider in particular. How that works →
Ready to Get Data Loss Prevention Right?
Start with a no-cost conversation with an RLM security advisor — vendor neutral, no agenda, just clarity on where your gaps are and the right path to close them.
Talk to a Security Advisor