Microsoft Thursday said it plans to integrate RSA data-loss prevention technology into its products to enable security managers to monitor sensitive data and block unauthorized use. RSA is EMC’s security division.
While calling the partnership “significant,” Microsoft’s JG Chirapurath didn’t disclose much detail, except to say that Exchange and SharePoint are expected to be among the first Microsoft products to include this DLP capability.
In a move to bolster the partnership, RSA DLP Suite 6.5, to be out later this month, will be tightly integrated with Microsoft Active Directory Rights Management Services within Windows Server 2008. EMC and Microsoft anticipate this will enable security managers to implement data-loss prevention by tying controls to employee identity or group membership.
“Customers want to protect their intellectual property and that requires knowledge of identity,” says Chirapurath, director of identity and security at Microsoft.
Both Microsoft and RSA claim DLP Suite 6.5, which includes endpoint, network and data center components, will be the foundation for the evolution of Microsoft’s DLP strategy. “It’s future-ready,” claims Tom Corn, vice president of product management and marketing at RSA’s data-security group, about Version 6.5.
“With Rights Management Services you can place access controls on documents based on the concept of user rights,” Corn says. By bringing together DLP and rights management, he adds, managers will be able to set policies for sensitive information if it shows up on a SharePoint site, for example.
