DLP solutions are the first-last opportunity to correct a policy problem...and do so at the last frontier (the network perimeter). If some confidential data has been inadvertently exposed via an email, isn't the problem procedural and policy not a technology issue? Answer: Yes.

Yet, here we are today with countless DLP vendors pitching their respective solutions (starting at $25,000 dollars and going up from there) as a way to prevent data loss. It's laughable! People are trying to control human behavior with automated controls. It doesn't work. Throwing a lock on the Internet gateway just means that someone can carry data out of the network on a thumb drive or in a printout. It's not a technology issue, it's how the technology is used issue.

If users are taught about the risks and what they can do to minimize them, an organization will be vastly better off and more secure WITHOUT having to buy the expensive 1st last solutions to supposedly prevent data leaks.

Click to read the article this is in response to.