Resources · DLP buyer’s guide

Six questions to ask before you buy DLP.

A DLP product is easy to demo and hard to run. These questions show how one will behave in your organization, with your data.

Why do DLP projects stall?

They start with blocking and drown in alerts. Accuracy and context decide whether a product gets past monitor mode.

Six questions for any DLP product, why each matters and what a good answer sounds like
Question	Why it matters	A good answer
Where is data detected?	It decides what keeps working off the network, and what must be rerouted.	A clear map of which component runs where.
What can the product actually recognize?	Patterns alone miss designs, code and contracts.	Validated identifiers, fingerprints and content analysis, shown on your files.
Which AI scenarios are visible?	Control by domain cannot tell a corporate account from a personal one.	Named services, the account in use and the content of the prompt.
What happens outside the corporate network?	Much sensitive work happens away from the office.	The same policy and the same evidence, with no connection.
Can the analyst understand the decision?	An alert nobody can explain becomes noise.	One screen: who, what, where, which policy and why it matched.
Where are logs and sensitive data stored?	Evidence about a leak can hold the leaked data.	Stated retention, location, access rights and whether content is copied.

Channels to test in a DLP evaluation, with one test for each
Channel	One test worth running
Endpoint	Copy a labeled file to USB, then print it.
Email	Send a confidential file to a personal address.
Web	Upload the same file through personal webmail.
Cloud apps	Share it from an unapproved storage service.
AI tools	Paste part of it into a personal AI account.
Off the network	Repeat the tests with the laptop disconnected.