Data protection - RGPD, DLP and information security

Personal (customers, employees), financial, strategic and intellectual property data. These are the most sensitive and the most targeted by cyberattacks, and they are subject to strict legal requirements such as the RGPD.

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DLP is a technology that prevents sensitive data from leaving your organization unchecked. For example, it blocks critical information from being emailed, printed or copied to USB sticks. It's a key tool for preventing human error and malicious leaks.

A backup involves copying your files or databases so that they can be restored in the event of loss or corruption. It is essential, but does not guarantee business continuity.

The DRP (Disaster Recovery Plan) goes a step further: it provides for the restoration of critical systems after a major incident (cyber-attack, disaster, breakdown). The aim is to resume activity within a defined timeframe (e.g. 24 or 48 hours).

The BCP (Business Continuity Plan) is even more demanding: it aims to maintain business activity without interruption, even in the event of a crisis. In concrete terms, this means setting up redundant infrastructures or automatic failover systems.

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The majority of data leaks are not caused by cybercriminals, but by human error (attachment sent to the wrong recipient, file shared publicly by mistake, lost USB key). The first step in avoiding these incidents is therefore to raise employee awareness: training your teams in best practices (password management, vigilance against phishing, secure use of collaborative tools) considerably reduces the risks.

Secondly, technical solutions such as DLP (Data Loss Prevention) are essential. These tools monitor data flows (e-mails, downloads, printouts, USB transfers) in real time and automatically block accidental or deliberate leakage attempts. For example, they prevent sensitive data from being sent outside the company without authorization.

It's also crucial to apply the principle of least privilege via IAM solutions: each employee should only have access to the data they really need for their work. By limiting excessive rights, you automatically reduce the risk of data leakage.

Last but not least, a clear governance policy (data classification, sharing procedures, access traceability) helps empower teams and prove compliance in the event of an audit.

No, data stored in the cloud is not protected by default. Cloud providers (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, etc.) apply a shared responsibility model: they secure the infrastructure (datacenters, service availability), but data protection is your responsibility.

It is also important to distinguish between two concepts that are often confused:

• Retention: cloud solutions keep your files and e-mails for a limited period (e.g. 30 or 90 days after deletion). This allows you to recover data deleted by mistake, but it's no real protection. Once the period has expired, the data is lost for good.
• Backup: this involves creating an independent, secure copy of your data, stored on another medium or environment. Unlike retention, a backup can be restored even months or years after the loss or corruption of files.

In the event of a ransomware attack, malicious deletion or human error, only a dedicated cloud backup (complementary to native retention) guarantees that you can recover your information and ensure business continuity.