How Content Aware Protection Works?

Content-aware data loss prevention is a data loss-prevention measure that involves awareness of the context or content that is being protected. This module enables the dynamic application of policy based on the content and context at the time of an operation. These tools are used to address the risk of inadvertent or accidental leaks, or exposure of sensitive enterprise information outside authorised channels, using monitoring, filtering, blocking and remediation features.

Hi! My name is Natalie, and today I will talk about the Content Aware Protection module of Endpoint Protector.

The Content Aware Protection module allows you to control the files transferred over the internet or over the network through various exit points and online applications.

In order to use it, a policy has to be created. First, we have to choose the Operating System of the computers this policy will be applied to: Windows, macOS or Linux. The distinction is imperative, since there are applications that are supported by one Operating System, and not supported by the other, - for instance, Internet Explorer is supported by Windows, and not supported by macOS or Linux.

Then, we give the policy a Name, a Description; choose the Policy Action: "Block & Report”, "Report Only" or "Block Only”. Under “Policy Exit Points”, we select the channels that we want to control the transfer of confidential information through: applications such as web browsers, e-mail clients, instant messaging apps, cloud services/file sharing apps and others.

Data transfers to USB Storage Devices, Network Share and Clipboard can also be monitored. Under "Policy Blacklists”, the sensitive information can be defined based on file type or based on content. There is a large number of file types you can choose from: Graphic Files, Office Files, Archive Files, Media Files, Source Code Files and others.

If you want to be more specific about the information that you want to protect, you can define the sensitive data based on file content. Under “Predefined Content”, some Personally Identifiable Information is available for selection, such as Credit Card Numbers, E-mail addresses, Social Security Numbers and others.

The confidential content can be customized, as well, - by creating a custom Blacklist Dictionary, and then selecting that dictionary inside the Content Aware Policy. The dictionary can be created from “Blacklists and Whitelists” -> “Blacklists”.

Other filters for defining the classified data include File Name, Regular Expression and HIPAA.
After the policy has been defined, it will have to be applied to Departments, Groups, Computers or Users, - by selecting their corresponding boxes from the lists.

Now, for the purpose of this demonstration, we will block the upload of PDF files, and files that contain Credit Card Numbers to Chrome web browser. We will create a policy that will block and report the transfer of files through Chrome, select “PDF" from inside the "File Type" filter, and “Credit Card Numbers” from the “Predefined Content Filter” tab. Apply the policy to my User, and save it.
This is what the result would look like.

That was the Content Aware Protection module of Endpoint Protector.
Thank you for your attention!