Vistorm boss tips DLP for growth

Wikileaks saga has prompted renewed interest in hotly tipped technology

After several false dawns, data leak prevention (DLP) is finally set to take off this year in the wake of the WikiLeaks saga.

That is according to the chief executive of HP Information Security – formerly Vistorm – who has tipped the technology as one of two security hotspots for 2011 alongside mobile security.

Vistorm was rebranded under the HP banner in mid-December and Vistorm chief executive Dan Turner (pictured) retained the reins of the 400-strong firm.

DLP has been widely viewed as a damp squib since the technology first emerged three years ago, but Turner told CRN that end users are finally ready to open their wallets.

“For the last two to three years, DLP has been talked of but not widely implemented,” he said

“The WikiLeaks revelations focused organisations on the importance of protecting their information capital. That has prompted more proof of concepts and client enquiries about how we would implement DLP.”

Mobile security is the other area to be “absolutely flying” at the moment, according to Turner. HP Information Security is in the process of launching a McAfee-based Secure Boardroom package designed to lock down high-level executives’ iPads, he added.

“Securing mobile devices is at the heart of what we are doing,” said Turner.

He claimed HP Information Security is currently the third-largest force in the global IT security services market behind Symantec and IBM, but he said HP is striving for a market-leading 10 per cent share in the long term.

Expanding deeper into Asia Pacific is a priority for 2011, he said.

Mukesh Gupta, managing director of security distributor e92plus, agreed that DLP would take off in 2011. “DLP has been talked about for a couple of years, but we are now seeing a lot more interest and are gearing up technically to deliver Websense’s DLP suite," he said.