Forcepoint DSPM

AI assistants and agents can reach any data their permissions allow. DSPM makes that data safe before they do. DSPM finds sensitive, overshared and ROT data that tools such as Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT could surface. It then tightens access before an AI tool picks that data up. Forcepoint DSPM classifies data before it reaches an AI tool. Its API integrations with sanctioned AI platforms also show how those tools interact with your data.

Most DSPM platforms follow a recurring lifecycle: discover data (structured and unstructured across multiple clouds and on-prem), classify it by sensitivity and business context, assess and prioritize risks (such as overprivileged access or mislocated data), remediate misconfigurations or unsafe access and then monitor continuously to keep data classification and security posture current. Forcepoint DSPM implements this with AI Mesh, an AI classification architecture using small language models and deep neural networks.

Forcepoint DSPM will scan integrated data sources, identify and categorize high-risk data, and recommend next steps for remediation so the team can adjust permissions, move misplaced data, clean up Redundant, Obsolete or Trivial (ROT) data and fix sovereignty issues instead of stopping at reports. Forcepoint DSPM sees beyond files into enterprise databases and data lakes, so the same discovery, classification and adaptive enforcement model covers both structured and unstructured data in a single, unified platform alongside Forcepoint DDR and DLP. 

DSPM continuously discovers data across cloud, network and on-premises storage to uncover and classify sensitive data no matter where it may be hiding. Finding sensitive data is the crucial first step in protecting it. DSPM solutions scan your entire data ecosystem such as:

• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• SaaS applications (Microsoft 365, Salesforce)
• On-premises storage and databases

Modern DSPM software maintains continuous visibility as data moves and changes through built-in functionality or solution integrations. 

A mature DSPM solution delivers a chain of capabilities:

• Data discovery and AI-powered classification: automated scanning of cloud, SaaS and on-prem stores, using finely tuned AI to accurately classify structured and unstructured data by sensitivity and business purpose, with tunable models to reduce false positives.
• Data risk assessment plus risk analysis and prioritization: building an inventory of sensitive data, then scoring risk based on exposure, over-permissive access and business impact so teams focus on the most critical datasets first; Forcepoint uses risk scoring and financial-impact estimates to prioritize mitigation.
• Access governance: surfacing who has access to which data, highlighting public or external sharing, inactive accounts and overshared folders, with deep visibility into permissions via directory integrations.
• Compliance and reporting: generating dashboards, audit trails and framework-aligned reports (for regulations like GDPR or HIPAA) that map regulated data and simplify audits; Forcepoint adds policy templates, automated reporting and explainable AI classification to streamline demonstrating compliance across hybrid environments. 

Modern DSPM platforms provide a consistent way to identify sensitive data at scale across the enterprise and map user access permissions. This allows DSPM platforms to identify risks to sensitive data from over-permissioned access rights (which violate the principle of least privilege) including public exposure of regulated data, files stored in improper locations and ROT (redundant, obsolete, trivial) data risks. Administrators can use the controls from DSPM platforms to delete redundant and obsolete data to reduce the organization's attack surface, as well as move files to more secure locations and change access permissions to align with the principle of least privilege.

DSPM solutions include reporting and analytics capabilities that provide visibility into an organization's overall data security status. These reporting capabilities typically feature dashboards showing where sensitive data exists across environments, highlighting specific risk factors such as ROT (redundant, obsolete, trivial) data, over-permissioned files, mislocated information and duplicated content. Security teams can use these insights to track metrics over time and prioritize remediation efforts where they'll have the greatest impact. 

Forcepoint DSPM can be deployed locally on-premises, in private clouds or as a SaaS service. 

Automation enables continuous, large-scale data discovery and classification across enterprise environments. Artificial intelligence's primary value lies in delivering highly accurate data classification while reducing false positives. AI brings the precision needed to confidently distinguish between truly sensitive data and benign information that might trigger traditional rule-based systems. For DSPM solutions to confidently incorporate these capabilities, modern solutions must handle a wide range of file types, from PDFs to CAD, as well as understand an even broader array of data fields to assign correct classifications and adjust for compliance requirements. This includes leveraging GenAI capabilities, deep neural network classifiers and other predictive AI technologies working together. 

DSPM delivers four main benefits. It reduces risk by finding and fixing overexposed sensitive data before attackers or AI tools reach it. It streamlines compliance by keeping a current inventory of regulated data instead of rebuilding it for each audit. It improves productivity by automating data discovery and classification and shortening investigation and remediation cycles. And it cuts costs, because cleaning up ROT data lowers storage and governance spend.

DSPM rarely operates in isolation. Most organizations integrate it with complementary security technologies to create a comprehensive data protection strategy. The insights DSPM software provides about data location, sensitivity and risk naturally enhance other security tools such as:

• Data Detection and Response (DDR)
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
• Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
• Identity and Access Management (IAM) 

Unlike traditional tools that work with known data repositories using predefined rules, DSPM continuously discovers both known and unknown data across environments, leveraging AI for more accurate classification and providing context about access patterns and security controls.

Organizations use DSPM to find shadow and misplaced sensitive data across cloud, SaaS and on-premises systems. They also use it to cut overexposure by fixing public links, broad sharing and over-permissioned access. Many teams run DSPM to prepare data before rolling out AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot. DSPM also cleans up redundant, obsolete or trivial (ROT) data, which shrinks both the attack surface and storage costs. Compliance teams use it to prove compliance and data sovereignty with a current inventory of regulated data. Security teams use it to assess ransomware exposure and to give DLP and DDR the classification they need to enforce policy.

CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management) focuses on cloud infrastructure: configurations, network controls, identities and platform services. It finds and helps fix misconfigurations in IaaS and PaaS environments, not the contents of the data itself.

SSPM (SaaS Security Posture Management) focuses on SaaS apps: security settings, access and integrations across services like Microsoft 365, Salesforce and more.

DSPM (Data Security Posture Management) focuses specifically on the data—discovering, classifying, and assessing risk around sensitive information wherever it is stored. It answers, “what data do we have, where is it, who can access it and how risky is that exposure?”

Yes, when it is augmented with Data Detection & Response (DDR). Forcepoint DDR provides near real-time streaming capabilities in addition to DSPM’s regular scans, updating dashboards with exposure levels and file lineage details to automatically flag anomalies and potential breaches in the moment, as events unfold. 

DSPM shows what sensitive data sits in cloud storage, SaaS platforms and databases, how sensitive it is, where it lives and how it's shared. Forcepoint DSPM scans major cloud providers and identity sources to find overexposed data, excessive permissions and misplaced sensitive content that infrastructure-focused cloud tools miss. Teams can then enforce least-privilege access, prioritize fixes by business and regulatory impact and pass findings to DLP and other controls. The result is fewer blind spots across multi-cloud and SaaS, less exposed data and lower storage costs from ROT cleanup.

Start with where your sensitive data actually lives, then test vendors against discovering it. Look for coverage across cloud, SaaS and on-premises systems, for both structured and unstructured data. Measure classification accuracy on a sample of your own data, not a demo set. Check that the tool fixes permissions, moves files and cleans up ROT data instead of only reporting risk. Confirm it integrates with enforcement tools such as DLP and DDR. It should also deploy the way your environment needs and cover the AI tools your team already uses. Finally, make sure its compliance reports will satisfy your auditors. Ask each vendor to run discovery on your data before you buy, because the results will tell you more than a feature list.

DSPM is not an Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR) platform, but Forcepoint DSPM does detect identity-related risks tied to data. It maps which users and groups can access sensitive files, highlights over-permissioned or high-impact “risky users,” and surfaces suspicious access patterns via analytics and alerts.

These insights let security teams quickly investigate potential identity misuse (e.g., a user with excessive access to critical data) and take targeted actions such as revoking access, tightening sharing, or triggering workflows in existing security tools – strengthening identity-centric data protection without guessing. 

Forcepoint DSPM uses connectors to scan cloud and on-prem data stores at scale, then applies AI Mesh classification and configurable detectors to identify sensitive data (PII, PCI, PHI, IP, etc.) based on content and context.

It then evaluates exposure by analyzing sharing settings and permissions to flag data that is public, externally shared, overshared internally, mislocated, or associated with risky users, and quantify that risk within dashboards and reports so teams can prioritize remediation.

DSPM supports any regulation that requires you to know where sensitive data lives and who can access it. That includes GDPR, HIPAA and PCI DSS, along with data sovereignty and residency rules. DSPM produces the evidence auditors ask for: an inventory of regulated data, access reports and a list of data stored outside policy. Forcepoint DSPM's reporting and analytics show compliance readiness across popular frameworks.

Forcepoint DSPM analytics dashboards include predefined dashboards such as overexposure analysis, ransomware exposure analysis, critical data duplication, risky user detection, data retention, misplaced data, data risk assessment and incident tracking for data control violations.

Compliance teams can also create custom dashboards using built-in widgets (counters, charts, tables, incident views, etc.) driven by DSPM’s query language and export these views as reports to allow them to tailor oversight to specific regulations, business units or data categories without custom development.