Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)

What is Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)?

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) gives security teams control over what matters most—sensitive data. It continuously identifies where data lives, who can access it, and where the risks are hiding.

Built for cloud-scale environments, DSPM helps organizations uncover exposure before it turns into a breach. It’s a smarter way to align security with reality—and stay ahead of threats that exploit complexity and gaps in visibility.

Why DSPM exists

Sensitive data is constantly moving across SaaS apps, cloud storage, databases, and shadow environments. Traditional tools don’t always keep up. And when access goes unchecked, exposure becomes inevitable.

DSPM closes the gap. It helps teams:

Locate sensitive data, even in places you didn’t expect
Flag excessive permissions and public exposure
Map how data flows across systems
Identify compliance gaps before auditors do
Reduce noise by focusing on what’s most at risk

The result? Tighter control, faster response, and a more resilient security posture.

Here's how DSPM works

DSPM solutions run in the background, constantly scanning for risk at the data layer. Here’s what that looks like in action:

Discovery: Finds sensitive data across clouds, regions, and environments

Classification: Labels data types (like PII, PHI, IP) to surface what’s sensitive

Lineage: Tracks how data moves and changes—across services and teams

Risk scoring: Highlights misconfigurations, overentitlements, and weak encryption

Monitoring: Flags violations in real time, not after the damage is done

Remediation: Guides fixes or automates them, depending on your policies

DSPM gives you actionable insight—no extra overhead required.

Where does DSPM fit?

DSPM doesn’t replace your security stack.

It sharpens it. It works alongside:

Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools to restrict who gets access

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) to harden cloud environments

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platforms to enrich alerts with data-layer insights

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools to block risky behavior

While other tools defend the perimeter, DSPM looks inward—at the data attackers are after.

A real-world example of DSPM in action

Imagine your cloud team spins up new storage for an analytics project. Your organization's sensitive customer data ends up in the environment—without encryption. Access is wide open to internal users. No one notices. With DSPM, the risk is surfaced immediately. The data is flagged, access is restricted, and encryption is enforced—all before the incident becomes a liability.

Data Security Posture Management turns data risk into something you can actually manage. Instead of reacting to breaches, you reduce the odds of one happening in the first place. And instead of wondering where sensitive data is hiding, you know—down to the object, role, and exposure type.

So, when everyone's getting more connected, DSPM is how you take back control.