Open-Source DLP Package Launched

When it comes to insider threats and accidental data loss, data leak prevention (DLP) software is the most frequently-recommended solution. But most DLP products are expensive, leaving small and IT-budget-challenged enterprises without an answer.

This week, a new, open-source DLP tool is available from a community called OpenDLP. The tooloperates much as its more expensive commercial counterparts, according to the community's website.

"Given appropriate Windows domain credentials, OpenDLP can simultaneously identify sensitive data at rest on hundreds or thousands of Microsoft Windows systems from a centralized Web application."

OpenDLP is a solution running on a central Apache Web server, according to one review. The code is written in Perl and stores data into a MySQL database.

"The philosophy is to deploy an agent to Windows hosts with a configuration," the review states. "This is achieved using Samba and Windows credentials. The agent, installed as a service, performs the scan, grabs results, uploads them to the server and is finally removed . This process is fully transparent to the Windows user and non intrusive.

"Once installed, simple communication is available between the central server and agents," the review continues. "A simple system has also been implemented to mark some matches as false-positive... Definitively a nice tool to follow!"

"OpenDLP will certainly find a place among the commercial offerings if it is actively developed," said another reviewer.

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