Over 1 billion records have been stolen from data security leaks this year alone, and that number will only rise. Just when security leaders think hacks can’t get any worse, they do. And it’s become a major wake-up call for organizations of all sizes to bulk up security across their tech stack. 

But as you begin to conduct research on tools that can help solve your security woes, you might quickly become overwhelmed from the multitude of offerings– each claiming to be the one stop shop you’ve been searching for. 

You’ll come across terms like Saas Security Posture Management (SSPM), which is all about securing data within your SaaS apps, ensuring everything is configured correctly and meets compliance standards. You’ll also see Data Loss Prevention (DLP) which casts a wider net, protecting data across your entire tech environment, from endpoints to the cloud.

In this blog, we’ll break down the key differences between SSPM and DLP and show you how to determine which of these tools– if not both– are best for your security needs. 

Comparing SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) vs. What is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) are two terms you’ll often see used interchangeably among the security landscape. This interchangeable use is incorrect– as both of these tools, while important, have very specific functions that differ from one another. Let’s start by comparing each.

What is SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)? 

SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) is a specialized security tool designed to monitor and manage the security posture of your SaaS applications. It ensures your SaaS environments are configured securely, helping prevent data breaches and compliance issues.

How SSPM Works

SSPM continuously scans and monitors your SaaS applications for configuration issues, user activities, and permissions. It identifies any misconfigurations or unusual activities that could pose a security risk. By providing real-time insights and alerts, SSPM enables you to take corrective actions quickly to maintain a robust security posture.

Benefits of SSPM

• Reduce shadow IT: SSPM excels at identifying shadow IT, aka unauthorized SaaS applications within your organization. By discovering these unsanctioned apps, SSPM ensures all software in use meets your organization’s security standards, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities from unknown and unmanaged applications.
  
  
• Enhance configuration management: SSPM manages and enforces secure configurations across all your SaaS applications. It continuously scans for misconfigurations and automatically corrects them to align with security best practices. This proactive approach prevents potential security breaches caused by incorrect settings.

• Manage identity & access governance: With SSPM, you can govern user identities and access permissions effectively. It ensures that only authorized users have access to specific applications and data, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. SSPM helps maintain strict control over who can do what within your SaaS environments.

• Improve detection and response: SSPM continuously monitors your SaaS applications for security events, such as unusual user activities or configuration changes. By detecting potential threats in real-time, SSPM enables quick incident response, minimizing the impact of security incidents and preventing breaches before they escalate.

• Maintain compliance: Compliance is a critical aspect of any security strategy. SSPM helps ensure that your SaaS applications comply with various regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and other industry-specific standards. By maintaining secure configurations and monitoring compliance continuously, SSPM reduces the risk of costly regulatory penalties.

• Visibility: SSPM provides comprehensive visibility into your SaaS application usage, access patterns, and configurations. It delivers detailed insights and reports, helping you understand how applications are being used, who is accessing them, and whether they are configured securely. This level of visibility is crucial for maintaining a robust security posture and making informed decisions about your SaaS ecosystem.

Limitations of SSPM

• Scope: SSPM is limited to SaaS applications and does not cover the entire tech stack.
• Dependency on integration: Effectiveness depends on how well it integrates with your existing SaaS applications and tools.
• Initial setup: Setting up and configuring SSPM tools can be time-consuming and may require specialized knowledge.

What is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a comprehensive security strategy that aims to detect, monitor, and protect sensitive data across an organization’s entire tech stack including cloud platforms, on-premise systems and other operational systems and hardware. It prevents data breaches, unauthorized access, and data leaks by ensuring that sensitive information remains secure.

How DLP Works

DLP solutions monitor data at rest, in motion, and in use across your network, endpoints, and cloud environments. They analyze data flow and user activities, applying predefined policies to detect and block unauthorized actions. DLP tools can automatically encrypt sensitive data, alert administrators to potential breaches, and enforce security policies to prevent data loss.

Benefits of DLP

• Enhance data protection: DLP is designed to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. It actively monitors and controls data transfers, ensuring that any attempt to move or share sensitive information without proper authorization is blocked. This robust protection mechanism helps keep your critical data safe from internal and external threats.

• Ensure regulatory compliance across tech stack: DLP solutions ensure that your organization’s data handling practices meet regulatory standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DDS and other industry-specific regulations. By enforcing strict data protection policies, DLP helps you avoid costly penalties and maintain compliance, providing peace of mind that your data management processes are legally sound.

• Prevent data breaches: With continuous event monitoring and controlled data transfers, DLP plays a crucial role in detecting and preventing data breaches. It identifies suspicious activities and potential threats in real-time, allowing your security team to respond swiftly and effectively. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of data breaches, protecting your organization’s reputation and financial health.

• Enforce security policies: DLP ensures the consistent application of security policies across your organization. By automating the enforcement of data protection rules, DLP reduces the likelihood of human error and guarantees that sensitive information is always handled according to established policies. This uniform approach strengthens your overall security posture.

• Achieve comprehensive coverage: DLP provides comprehensive data protection across all environments, including on-premises systems, cloud services, and mobile devices. It ensures that no matter where your data resides or how it is accessed, it remains secure. This extensive coverage is essential for organizations with diverse and distributed IT infrastructures.

• Gain Data Visibility: DLP solutions offer detailed insights into how data is used and shared within your organization. By providing comprehensive visibility into data flows and user activities, DLP helps you understand potential vulnerabilities and areas of risk. These insights enable you to make informed decisions about your data security strategies and improve overall data governance.

Limitations of DLP

• Complexity: Implementing and managing DLP solutions can be complex and resource-intensive.
• False positives: DLP tools may generate false alerts, requiring manual review and adjustments.
• Performance impact: Continuous monitoring and enforcement can impact system performance and user experience.
• Scope: While comprehensive, DLP may not cover specific nuances and configurations within SaaS applications, which is where SSPM can complement.

SSPM vs. DLP: Key Differences

To keep your organization’s data safe, it’s crucial to understand the unique roles of SSPM and DLP. We’ve broken down the key differences and similarities between these two powerful tools in the table below. By comparing their focus, scope, functionality, and best use cases, we aim to help you decide which tool, or combo of tools, is the perfect fit for your tech stack’s data security needs.

	SSPM	DLP
Focus	Ensuring security and compliance within SaaS applications	Preventing data breaches and unauthorized access across the tech stack
Scope	Limited to SaaS applications	Covers all environments: on-premises, cloud, endpoints, and mobile
Functionality	Monitors configurations, user activities, and permissions	Monitors data at rest, in motion, and in use; enforces security policies
Best For	Organizations heavily reliant on SaaS applications	Organizations needing comprehensive data protection across all environments

Why Organizations Might Need Both SSPM and DLP

You might be saying to yourself… both of these sound relevant to my organization. Is it possible to need both? Many organizations can totally benefit from using both DLP and SSPM together. Think of SSPM as your go-to for locking down SaaS apps, making sure they’re configured right and ticking all the compliance boxes. Meanwhile, DLP is like your all-encompassing safety net, protecting data everywhere—from on-premises systems to the cloud, and from endpoints to mobile devices.

Here’s why combining these tools together may better secure your organization:

• Compliance: Both SSPM and DLP play a crucial role in helping organizations meet regulatory requirements. SSPM ensures your SaaS apps are configured securely, while DLP ensures proper data handling practices across all environments. This dual approach keeps you compliant and your data safe.

• Risk management: SSPM is all about addressing risks specific to SaaS app configurations, making sure there are no vulnerabilities or misconfigurations. DLP focuses on preventing data breaches and unauthorized access, giving you a robust defense against a wide range of security threats.

• Holistic security: SSPM focuses on securing your SaaS applications, ensuring they’re configured correctly and safely. DLP, on the other hand, protects your data across your entire tech stack, covering on-premises systems, cloud environments, endpoints, and mobile devices. Together, they provide comprehensive protection.

While SSPM and DLP share the common goal of enhancing data security, they can’t be used in replacement of one another. Each is tailored to different aspects of the security landscape. Using both tools together allows you to achieve a holistic and robust data security framework.

Conclusion: Achieving Comprehensive Security with SSPM and DLP

Data security threats aren’t slowing down. Never has it been more important as a security leader to understand the distinct roles of SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) in order to bulk up your security framework. Incorporating both SSPM and DLP into your security strategy allows you to achieve a holistic and resilient data security framework. By leveraging the unique strengths of each tool, you can protect your organization’s most valuable asset—its data—more effectively than ever before.

For organizations relying on Salesforce and its integrated tech stack– data security is often overlooked. To fix this, Sonar Pulse is the SSPM solution you need. It offers specialized capabilities to monitor and manage the security posture of your Salesforce environment, ensuring configurations are secure and compliant. By integrating with your existing tools, Sonar Pulse enhances visibility, manages identity and access, and provides real-time detection and response for security events. Try Sonar free today.