Symantec Data Loss Prevention Reviews

We use DLP to monitor network traffic and prevent sensitive data from being exfiltrated outside of the company. Symantec also helps us discover data at rest in an environment that may be sensitive. The solution covers more than 10,000 users across various business units and layers, including endpoints, networks, and storage.

DLP is a control instrument for ensuring that an organization complies with regulatory requirements. For example, banks have requirements for storing credit card data, GLBA regulations, etc. DLP can help a bank avoid fines and protect it from civil liabilities.

Companies are audited annually, and DLP improves their risk posture. It ensures business operations won't get shut down because we don't know what we don't know. There are also internal threats, such as people leaving with privileged information on a USB. For instance, an earnings report could be stolen by a disgruntled worker and leaked to competitors. Symantec provides good definitions in the rule set. It can be customized to scan inside documents and pattern-match any unstructured data to comply with what the company needs.

The data-at-rest features are the most valuable because they let us identify data infected with ransomware and prevent employees from being exploited through phishing attacks. If an employee is compromised, the attacker can access servers and deposit ransomware. This enables the attacker to exfiltrate data remotely using employees' credentials. It might be valuable data that could cause a business reputational and financial damage if stolen and publicized. It could also be credit card data or personal health information stored on critical servers.

The false positive rate is excellent. It's about 90 percent accurate and gets better as we fine-tune the rule sets. When we have new incidents, we can work to lower the overall risk based on user behavior on the endpoint, the kinds of data we out on SharePoint, and the type of web or FDP traffic generated internally. I assess the effectiveness of a policy based on the number of false positives generated. We need to tune the rule set if it's greater than 20 percent. 

The solution's data recovery is fast. It depends on the size of your storage, but I have no complaints about the speed of data recovery because there are several detection servers with the necessary horsepower to handle the amount of data that needs to be discovered. It could be remotely scanning a SharePoint server or a file server. The local agents can process data in the expected timeframe.

The upgrade process is convoluted. The server and database software must run in line with third-party providers like the Oracle database. If an Oracle database reaches the end of its life, then servers must be decommissioned, and you need to bring new servers online.

When the maintenance packages are deployed to the management server, they don't get pushed to the detection servers. Each detection server must be manually installed rather than automatically made from a single server. If it's a large enterprise, you need to manually install it or use a GPO or some other technology, which I never use. 

The vendors should also give a heads-up long before updates are released so internal teams can meet their change management lead times. Some vendors don't provide enough notice. They often announce a new version or a vulnerability that needs patching a week before it comes out. It should be a month before. 

The upgrade packages should have better documentation on the upgrade procedure instead of prerequisites spread throughout multiple documents. The wording should be more precise.

I have used the solution for ten years.

Symantec DLP is highly stable. I've operated on Linux and Windows. Linux is stable and doesn't require much patching, but Windows requires more patching, and the service sometimes needs to be restarted. 

Symantec DLP has unlimited scalability if you buy enough licenses. Symantec has servers in the USA, Canada, Asia, and Europe that manage policies differently. For example, Europe has its own compliance rules for GDPR. Incident response can be managed well and segmented away from the rest of the world. You can implement Europe-specific policies. 

I rate Symantec technical support a seven out of ten. 

Neutral

I previously used an appliance called Websense to analyze traffic for data loss. I used other Broadcom tools before Broadcom bought Symantec called Broadcom Proxy and CloudSOC Gateway. I didn't switch from Websense to Broadcom. It was just something I tried, so it wasn't a full deployment. Symantec DLP is head and shoulders above the competing on-prem DLP solutions.

There are a few tricky parts when setting up Symantec DLP, but it's straightforward overall. We used an integrator for the deployment and didn't experience any hiccups after they were finished. About ten people from my company were involved. 

We have two or three people doing maintenance on the solution, like weekly health checks to ensure services are running and traffic flows through the console dashboard. We need to check the incidents generated from the detection servers and verify that everyone can log in. The main part of maintenance is periodic system updates and vulnerability patches.

We see an ROI. During testing, I found it captures and blocks immediately. DLP is able to perform the necessary alerts. We can work with the business and get them on board to see what kind of data they use. We can assign the right roles and manage each business to assess its performance in terms of data loss. Symantec enables us to generate reports to show if their security posture or data loss is changing over time. It's a valuable tool that does what it claims. 

The price of Symantec DLP is fair. I don't recall the cost of the license, but it wasn't outrageous enough that it was an obstacle to approval. I'm not concerned with how much per seat or server, but I know they charge a lot. 

If you're thinking about going for a cheaper solution, I suggest a close comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each solution by researching online and reading the vendor's documentation. You have to define your security requirements and look at factors like false positive ratios and whether it meets your compliance needs. Some companies only need to meet the minimum regulatory requirements, so a cheap solution that ticks all the right boxes might work. However, if security is the primary goal, you should compare the strengths and weaknesses of that cheap vendor against two or three other DLP vendors.

I didn't evaluate other solutions before choosing Symantec DLP this time, but I evaluated other DLPs for different projects. However, those were cloud-based DLPs, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. 

I rate Symantec Data Loss Prevention an eight out of ten.

The use case for Symantec Data Loss Prevention depends on the requirements, for example, customer requirements and needs. Overall, the solution is used for identifying data and handling exact data matching criteria.

What I like about Symantec Data Loss Prevention is the technical support it provides. It's good.

Currently, I can't see any areas for improvement in Symantec Data Loss Prevention because the solution seems to be better than all the other vendors out there. It seems all the other vendors are trying to mimic what Symantec Data Loss Prevention is doing in terms of components, practice, and modules.

Sometimes setting up the solution can get a little tricky because it would depend on your internal infrastructure. For example, you have to connect the Symantec Data Loss Prevention platform and you need to integrate it, so that could make the process somewhat difficult.

I've been dealing with Symantec Data Loss Prevention for ten years. I'm using the most up-to-date version of the solution.

Symantec Data Loss Prevention is a stable solution.

Symantec Data Loss Prevention is a scalable solution.

I like the technical support for Symantec Data Loss Prevention. It's pretty good. Support is one of the advantages of the solution. Support is a little costly, but you get what you pay for.

The initial setup for Symantec Data Loss Prevention is straightforward, particularly if you use the guide, but it gets a little complex based on the networking connectivity you have within your environment. Sometimes setting up the solution can get a little tricky because it would depend on your internal infrastructure. For example, you have to connect the Symantec Data Loss Prevention platform and you need to integrate it, so that could make the process somewhat difficult.

The advice I would give to others looking into implementing Symantec Data Loss Prevention is to make sure they have a lot of resources on their servers, particularly in terms of disc size, CPU, etc. The bigger the box is, the better.

There's no perfect solution, so I'm giving Symantec Data Loss Prevention a rating of nine.

The tool's most valuable feature revolves around the area of IDM.

Creating any new Microsoft policy is easier compared to Symantec Data Loss Prevention. The creation of any new policy in Symantec Data Loss Prevention needs to be made easier.

I have been using Symantec Data Loss Prevention for around five years.

The solution's technical support is available at a toll-free number. We can directly connect with the tool's support team, but it takes some time. The follow-ups will be there from Symantec's end.

Positive

I switched from Symantec to Microsoft. At the time, there were a lot of, and I had an opportunity to work with, Microsoft Teams. I chose to use Microsoft because I got the opportunity to use the tool, and I want to explore this as well. Other DLPs were there in the market, but most of them were associated with Microsoft.

Microsoft's policy management features are better than Symantec's.

The product's deployment phase was easy.

The tool has impacted our cost savings and reduced incident response times. The tool helps save money and protect data.

I think it is an expensive tool.

The policy management capabilities are really effective.

The tool's policy management capabilities aid us in the area of compliance.

The tool integrates with other security tools, just like how Microsoft works.

I have not dealt with any AI capabilities in the tool.

I recommend the tool to others. The software is sufficient, especially support-wise, and it is the same as Microsoft.

I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten.

We use the solution to prevent it from data leakage.

Symantec DLP covers almost all the main trajectory of confidential data, including storage, endpoints, networks, and the cloud. We use it for discovery, prevention and network monitoring on the network side. In the cloud, we use cloud services such as email, detection services, and discovery.

Symantec Data Loss Prevention can both monitor and block data at the endpoint level. It can prevent copying and encoding of HTTP data to various sites like Google, and Webex. It can also prevent data leakage by capturing and blocking various forms of data, including images, videos, and audio. Even if an end user attempts to send an image file or screenshot, it will undergo scanning. Symantec Data Loss Prevention will extract fingerprints from the image and prevent the data from being transmitted.

Data Masking could be improved.

I have been using Symantec Data Loss Prevention as a reseller since 2005.

The product is stable.

I rate the solution’s stability an 8 out of 10.

I rate the solution’s scalability a 7 out of 10.

The initial setup is moderate. It'll take a day or 2, depending on troubleshooting needs and database integration. It only supports Oracle databases.

The product is expensive.

I rate the product’s pricing a 3 out of 10, where 1 is expensive and 10 is cheap.

We do have many built-in components on the policy tab. So, if you're in the UK or anywhere else, we have some pre-built policies, making it easy for users to configure. These policies cover SSN, driver's license information, and other sensitive conversations. Additionally, we have some import policies, making the process even easier.

We have almost 65 components, and we are the ones handling the stack for Broadcom. We are responsible for both level one and level two support for Broadcom.

Overall, I rate the solution an 8 out of 10.

We use Symantec DLP for endpoint, network, and storage data loss prevention. Symantec DLP is deployed across multiple locations and departments, covering around 10,000 users. 

With Symantec DLP, we can identify where most of our sensitive data resides. By scanning the database and file server, we can find sensitive data and determine how people use it with the analytical view. For example, we discovered someone copying some sensitive data and project information during their two-week notice period. The SOP for any solution implemented in the infrastructure is placed in SharePoint. They tried to copy that information and send it to their personal email. We identified the potential leak and notified the leaders of the firm.

The endpoint DLP isn't something that provides 100 percent coverage. It is a strategic solution and a process by which we strengthen rules and policies for detecting and identifying sensitive information and how it can leave the company. The DLP solution doesn't provide total coverage, but it can protect about 70 percent of our daily process activity. It also reduces the time DLP admins spend on these tasks by about 20 percent.

Symantec also helps us meet our regulatory requirements. Symantec DLP has preset rules for PCI DSS compliance that we can use to monitor if any users are sending credit card numbers to outside parties. It has similar features for compliance with GDPR and other types of regulations.

The most valuable aspect of Symantec DLP is its broad coverage. Symantec DLP covers USB, Outlook email clients, and web traffic. If we install the endpoint DLP, we can cover multiple channels, including the clipboard and printer. 

What distinguishes Symantec from other solutions is the technology to create policies based on our customer's requirements, like ID items and index documents. We can fingerprint our documents so that any attempt to send the data outside the organization is detected. Symantec DLP has Described Content Matching if you need to send unstructured data. We can carry out the rule with the Described Content Matching technology. 

This enables us to create multiple rules. Symantec offers various technologies, like Index Document Matching, Described Content Matching, and Exact Data Matching. We can also create rules for structured data stored in the Excel database.

In addition to these features, Symantec DLP also provides email traffic monitoring, giving us visibility into on-prem Exchange email servers and cloud-based tools like Office 365. We can extend DLP detection to all email and SMTP traffic. 

I rate Symantec DLP a ten out of ten for ease of use and implementation. It's easier to use than other DLP solutions. 

The detection capabilities are also excellent. I rate Symantec DLP eight and a half out of ten for detection. I give Symantec an eight out of ten for accuracy and seven out of ten for scanning speed. 

Symantec DLP doesn't provide complete cloud coverage. We need another DLP solution to monitor our cloud applications. 

I've used Symantec DLP for around five years.

Symantec DLP is stable. 

Symantec DLP is scalable.

I rate Symantec's support an eight out of ten. 

Positive

I used Forcepoint and McAfee. Symantec is easier to implement and manage. The coverage is also better. Symantec easily covers email and web traffic. I rate Symantec's detention capabilities an eight out of ten versus seven for Forcepoint and five for McAfee.

Deploying Symantec DLP is a little complex. We had to create an Oracle database when we implemented the solution. That part was difficult, but the rest was straightforward. 

There are three phases of implementation and many tasks in the beginning. First, we had to identify our sensitive data, where they are, and how they are being used. It was a long process initially. After finding all those things, we implemented the DLP solution in the infrastructure. We had been using an endpoint DLP, which didn't cover most email traffic, so we implemented email and web DLP.

We had to do a lot of work in the early stages, but the solution doesn't need much oversight once it's mature in the infrastructure. One or two people can manage it. I and one of my team members administer it. Two other people handle the incident management. Few changes are required after it is fully deployed and mature. You occasionally need to modify some rules and add some exceptions. 

The initial installation took about a week, but it takes nearly a month to configure all the policies. Two admins and one engineer were responsible for the deployment. Maintenance involves the database, networking team, and DLP teams. That's five people altogether.

Symantec saves us time and costs. It enables us to easily monitor all the incidents and quickly configure policies. The solution reduced our operating costs by about 20 to 25 percent. 

Symantec's pricing is competitive. I would recommend Symantec DLP over cheaper solutions because it provides a broader range of detection across various channels that isn't easy to achieve with other solutions. The solution also makes compliance with multiple regulatory regimes easier. 

I rate Symantec Data Loss Prevention an eight out of ten. 

We have some sectors that have sensitive data, and for that reason we use  Symantec Data Loss Prevention. We have some policies on those sectors so that if somebody uses an ID number or some other sensitive number, we record it in our system.

The benefit is that users can't copy or send sensitive data to another user outside our organization.

It has also helped save so much time. For me, as an administrator of the agents, who installs and puts group policies and rights in place, it saves me 20 or 30 percent of my time.

We can see everything about the users, meaning what kinds of data they use on their computers. When you install the Symantec agent on users' PCs, you define a role for the users and set the policy. We have set rights such that users can't copy sensitive data or send it via email or to USB. After, you can search monthly or yearly and see what kind of data they have used or shared and where they shared the data.

We also like the analytics and reports. We can get yearly reports, six-month reports, and monthly reports for analytics that we can export.

And for administrators and system engineers, it's easy to use, install, maintain, and upgrade. It's also easy for end-users.

For detection, it has a great algorithm. It can recognize ID numbers and everything that you put in a policy for the end-users. That is really great for us as an institution where we have sensitive data. It recognizes all the sensitive data when someone tries to transfer it or put in other data. When that happens it sends me a notification that somebody needs to use an ID or sensitive data. Its accuracy of detection is high.

Another positive aspect is that the speed of discovery is very high. We are very satisfied.

I would like to see changes to the analytics. 

I have been using Symantec since 2018, making it about five years.

It has constantly worked fine for me all these years. I haven't had any problems with it. It's highly stable.

It's also highly scalable.

The support could be more knowledgeable.

However, the firm we bought it from supports me very well. I would rate that firm a 10 out of 10.

Positive

We have only used Symantec File Share Encryption and Data Loss Prevention.

We have it installed on-premises on virtual services.

Deploying it to the end-users was not complex. It was very easy for me. I installed it on about 40 computers, each used by two users, who are all in one location. It took two or three weeks in total.

In terms of maintenance, I maintain the agents and all the servers where Symantec is installed.

I would highly recommend Symantec DLP. This is the best algorithm that I have seen compared to other products.

The primary use case for this solution is ensuring compliance. Organizations that handle sensitive data find it crucial to implement a data loss prevention solution to prevent unauthorized data breaches.

One of the most valuable aspects of this solution is its integration capabilities with Office 365. This integration enables comprehensive monitoring and control over data leaving the organization.

A significant area for improvement in the product is reducing the number of agents required and improving integration as a unified client ecosystem.

Integrating artificial intelligence to automate policy creation based on user behavior and data sensitivity would be highly beneficial

I have been using Symantec DLP since 2013.

I rate the product stability an eight. 

I rate the product scalability an eight or nine out of ten. 

Symantec has a good support network. However, since the acquisition by Broadcom, support has become more challenging, although some regions still provide excellent support.

The installation process for this solution, based on my experience, is straightforward and user-friendly, ensuring minimal disruption during deployment.

It can be deployed on-premises and in hybrid models, providing flexibility to organizations based on their specific security and operational needs.

The product is high-priced. However, it is worth it for the comprehensive data protection it provides.

We have considered products from other vendors like Microsoft, Forcepoint, McAfee, and Trend Micro. However, Symantec covers all aspects and use cases effectively.

Incident response capabilities are integral to this solution's functionality. It features robust workflow controls that facilitate timely and effective responses to security incidents.

I rate it a nine out of ten.

Our customers mostly use it for data discovery, content monitoring, and policy enforcement.

The most valuable aspect of Symantec DLP is its powerful policy system. It helps us control data, like making sure nothing leaves our setup. The policy management console is user-friendly, and it offers a range of options to suit our specific requirements.

There is room for improvement in the remote control capabilities of the DLP solution. Currently, if the client-side agent is not installed, there are limited features available, and remote management through the manager portal is lacking. This is particularly important for users on VPN who would benefit from full remote control and management features.

I have been using Symantec Data Loss Prevention for a year.

If we had the remote control feature, it would significantly improve the overall stability level of the solution. I would rate the stability as an eight out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of Symantec Data Loss Prevention as a seven out of ten. It could use some improvement. We have eight users of the solution at our company. This product is not designed for small or medium businesses; it is intended for enterprise-level use, particularly in sectors like banking, finance, and insurance. We currently serve about ten enterprise customers who utilize the DLP features of the product. We have a few hundred clients using the solution.

I would rate the technical support as a nine out of ten. It is fantastic.

Positive

Our deployment process begins by understanding the customer's requirements and ensuring they have the necessary server infrastructure in place. We then install our DLP product on the customer's site and set up data agents. The customer is responsible for installing the agent on their users' devices. We proceed by creating and applying data protection policies tailored to their specific data requirements. Many of our customers have a lot of sensitive data, so they worry about its safety even after we've applied the rules. I would rate the easiness of the initial setup as a seven out of ten. It is quite user-friendly. The deployment time for this product varies based on customer needs and availability. If everything goes smoothly, it typically takes around one and a half months to deploy all the necessary components, including agents and other requirements. 

I am a technical person, so I don't have specific pricing details. However, I consider it to be in the average to moderately expensive range because it is tailored for enterprise use, not SMBs. Pricing can vary depending on specific needs and configurations.

My advice to people who are considering implementing Symantec DLP is to request a demo to see how it works and experience its features. Subscribing to these features, applying policies, and learning about the advantages will help them make an informed decision about whether it meets their specific needs. Overall, I would rate it as an eight out of ten.