Many organizations struggle to manage unstructured data, and these challenges will only continue to grow. As we know, data volume is expected to increase tremendously over the next five to 10 years, and much of that growth will consist of unstructured data. It is crucial to understand this data in the context of security and privacy, especially given impending regulatory deadlines.

Beyond the security and compliance challenges that unstructured data poses, there is also the broader challenge of protecting both structured and unstructured data, wherever it resides and regardless of platform, in the face of the evolving threat landscape. It is well-known in the cybersecurity world that cybercriminals often work together in groups, collaborating to leverage their collective skills and amplify the impact they have.

Those of us who are dedicated to using our powers for good ought to do the same. Working together to improve our data protection capabilities is a good place to start.

Introducing IBM Security Guardium Data Protection v10.5

IBM Security Guardium is a suite of products designed to safeguard critical data wherever it resides. In an age when data growth is explosive and risks to personal and sensitive information lurk around every corner, having this capability across all environments and data sources is critical to business success.

Today, IBM announced the release of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection v10.5, which features new capabilities designed to help clients with the challenges outlined above.

Discovery and Classification for Unstructured Data Across More Platforms

As of v10.5, Guardium Data Protection for Files now supports discovery and classification for unstructured data across network-attached storage (NAS), Sharepoint, Windows and Unix platforms. This allows clients to gain a more cohesive understanding of where their unstructured at-risk data lies and what type of data it is, which helps them support compliance with various regulatory mandates and establish a strong foundation for an effective enterprise data security program.

Expanded Partner Ecosystem for Data Security and Open Access for Integration

As part of this new release, Guardium is providing open data security integration points with applications developed by technology and business partners hosted in the new Guardium App Exchange. To help these partners build value-added data security applications that leverage or extend Guardium’s existing capabilities, Guardium now also provides a software development kit (SDK).

By facilitating collaboration to expand the data security ecosystem, IBM aims to make it easier for those with an interest in data security to work together to help protect sensitive data in new ways. This enables security teams to implement specialized technologies, niche data platforms and experimental interfaces to expand upon Guardium’s existing integration points and core capabilities while also improving usability for a wider range of people.

Get Started Today

There are many resources to help organizations get started with the new Guardium SDK and begin contributing to the App Exchange, most notably the DevCenter for high-level help and resources and the Knowledge Center for technical enablement. To download the SDK now, visit the App Exchange.

On May 17, we will be hosting a Tech Talk where you can learn about these capabilities and more. You can register here.

Register Now for the May 17 Guardium Tech Talk