One of the main security features Google has added in DLP is optical character recognition (OCR). The company’s data security personnel can now monitor attachments regularly to prevent intentional/unintentional occurrence of data loss.
Advertisement
While for email texts there is DLP, for attachments Google has introduced OCR.
This tool can scan not only e-mail bodies, but also anything attached to it, such as spreadsheets, documents or presentations. Last year, the company launched its Data Loss Prevention (DLP) feature for Google Apps Unlimited users that helps businesses keep sensitive data out of emails.
The addition of the optical character recognition technology could give organizations – such as medical companies or financial companies – confidence in sending scanned documents.
Only 1 in 5 organisations are adequately set up to securely manage customer identities and access management security, according to a recent survey conducted by Capgemini and RSA that polled more than 800 C-level global executives. Now, DLP will also scan these files and admins can set up rules to reject or quarantine emails based on the settings they have decided on for their company.
“Finally, new predefined detectors offer broader coverage of HIPAA data and personally identifiable information (PII) globally”, Eschelbeck wrote. “With the new OCR enhancement, DLP policies can now analyze common image types, and extract text for policy evaluation”, Google said. Admins will have the option to enable OCR organizational-unit level for both content compliance and content rules.
The new security features also bring more control over content detection thresholds. That way, an admin could allow an e-mail containing a single credit card number through as a low risk event while blocking one containing 100 numbers. In the latest case, Google has introduced a bevy of new security layers in DLP.
Google has been making serious inroads into the enterprise with its Google Apps for Work platform.
Advertisement
Improving DLP capabilities for Gmail may help the company to compete with rivals such as Microsoft for selling more productivity services to businesses.
