What is Data Loss Prevention?
Data loss prevention (DLP) is a set of strategies, tools, and processes designed to detect and prevent the unauthorized transmission, leakage, or exfiltration of sensitive data from an organization — whether intentional or accidental.
Also known as: DLP, data leak prevention
DLP solutions operate across three primary vectors: data in use (endpoint activity), data in motion (network traffic), and data at rest (stored files and databases). They use content inspection, contextual analysis, and policy rules to identify sensitive information — such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, API keys, or health records — and enforce actions like blocking, quarantining, encrypting, or alerting when policy violations are detected.
Enterprise DLP platforms typically integrate with email gateways, web proxies, cloud access security brokers (CASBs), and endpoint agents. They can scan outbound emails for credit card numbers, prevent file uploads to unauthorized cloud storage, and detect sensitive data in screenshots or printed documents. Machine learning has improved detection accuracy, but DLP still struggles with encrypted content, novel data formats, and the balance between security and employee productivity.
The biggest gap in most DLP strategies is unstructured credential sharing. Employees pasting passwords, API keys, and connection strings into emails, Slack messages, and shared documents create a sprawl of sensitive data that DLP tools must track. Each copy increases the attack surface and the risk of accidental exposure. Reducing the number of persistent copies of secrets is a foundational DLP strategy that complements technical controls.
How Vaulted uses Data Loss Prevention
Vaulted acts as a complementary tool to organizational DLP strategies by eliminating persistent sensitive data from communication channels. Instead of secrets existing indefinitely in email archives and chat logs — where DLP tools must continuously monitor and protect them — Vaulted replaces them with encrypted, self-destructing links. The secret is encrypted client-side with AES-256-GCM, exists on the server only as undecryptable ciphertext, and is automatically deleted after the configured view limit or expiration. This reduces the volume of sensitive data that DLP systems need to govern.