Proofpoint: Data Access Governance Key for AI Security

Organizations need to proactively secure their data before adopting AI tools. This is because AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and custom AI agents inherit the permissions of the accounts running them. This means overshared files or sensitive data could be accessed and summarized at scale. Here's the thing: Data Access Governance, or DAG, is essential. It combines data sensitivity, business context, access permissions, and usage information to identify true exposure risk. DAG helps discover if access to sensitive information is appropriate, extending beyond human users to AI copilots and agents. What's interesting is that AI classifiers can expand governance beyond just regulated data. They can identify the category and business purpose of a document, surfacing valuable content that traditional rules might miss. For example, one pharmaceutical company identified 229 document types across millions of SharePoint files using this approach. The bottom line: Understanding and managing data access is crucial to protect sensitive information in an AI-driven world.