Harry Potter vs DLP

At McAfee I hear a lot about Data Loss Prevention. It is one of those hot new areas in the security space, technology designed to help organizations keep their data secure. Information is your biggest asset, so it makes sense to protect it.

McAfee is the only big-name security company to sell DLP products, the others are still catching up. But while it may help a business prevent leakage via a USB drive or Web-based e-mail, I don't think a DLP product can help prevent the kind of leak being reported today: photographing every single page of a book and posting those pictures to the Internet.

Talk about a low-tech hack! That's what reportedly happened to the latest Harry Potter book. (Reportedly, because I have not downloaded the images myself, I am waiting for my Amazon.com shipment on Saturday.) It has to have been an inside job, since the book isn't out yet. No matter how tightly controlled the books are though, the circle of insiders has grown significantly as the book was shipped worldwide to retailers to sell to the Potter fans, who no doubt will be lining up starting on Friday. No DLP product will shield you against this kind of leakage. There won't be too much harm done though, I am sure the great majority of Hogwarts fans will still buy a hard copy of the seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.