Reconnex Appliance Helps IT Recognize Data Loss Risk

Reconnex has spun out some of its data loss prevention technology into a new product meant to help IT administrators analyze the flow of data and assess their own security policies more quickly.

The product, Data Loss Profiler, is a turnkey appliance that indexes all content leaving the network, providing the basis for creating and assessing policies to protect classified data, company officials said. Minutes after connecting Data Loss Profiler to the network, organizations can query the index to learn what information is being communicated and to whom, according to the company.

Though optimized to work in Reconnex's iGuard appliance, Data Loss Profiler's learning capabilities can also add value to DLP products lacking the inherent ability to use an organization's actual traffic to determine policies and rules for protecting against data loss, officials added.

The indexing technology is aimed at giving Reconnex a leg-up over DLP products that search for fixed-format data, such as credit card or Social Security numbers, which are subject to processes and policies. Content that does not match existing rules and formats is discarded.

Since Data Loss Profiler indexes all content and context, its query and search capabilities offer a more complete view into the effectiveness of an organization's rules and policies, explained Faizel Lakhani, vice president of products and marketing for Reconnex.

"Data loss prevention solutions require rules that are accurate, however to achieve accuracy considerable effort is required in rule construction—set the rule, try the rule, re-set the rule, try the rule etc usually with a cycle time of weeks per phase," Lakhani said. "Data Loss Profiler leverages an iterative Google-like interface with the speed of querying a pre-built index, reducing upfront effort and time to value."

IT analyst Eric Ogren said discovery is the first step to controlling the flow of data, and Data Loss Profiler can help an enterprise determine how best to adjust its infrastructure so the business gets maximum performance from its information resources.

"The important part of the Reconnex capability is that it is an ongoing audit for assessment on how well the DLP is performing," said Ogren, an analyst with The Ogren Group. "‘Learn' mode is ok for setting detection rules, but IT needs some means of staying tuned as the business dynamics change."

The Reconnex Data Loss Profiler is available in 1U or 3U configurations, and can be purchased with all learning applications for $19,995. Customers can also buy a software key that upgrades the Data Loss Profiler to a full Reconnex iGuard system, which includes a complete rules engine and full data-in-motion monitoring and protection.