The most overlooked cybersecurity truth: While IT teams build fortress-like security systems, the real threat walks through the front door every day - employees who unknowingly mishandle confidential data. Most of the data breaches happen when lawyers email unredacted discovery documents, doctors share patient records, or analysts export customer databases.
Traditional IT security tools don’t tackle these everyday business processes where sensitive data actually lives and moves. This comprehensive guide examines 17 enterprise data security tools that protect information where business happens - in documents, databases, email, and collaboration platforms.
These data security applications serve legal, finance, healthcare, and other regulated industries that handle sensitive information as part of daily operations, not as an afterthought.
Full reviews of the top 17 data security tools
Document security solutions
1. Spirion Sensitive Data Platform
Universities using Spirion discovered SSNs in 1996 curriculum vitae files that nobody knew existed. This comprehensive enterprise data discovery platform combines classification, monitoring, and remediation with redaction capabilities through Private AI partnership - but it's a significant undertaking.
Spirion requires substantial enterprise contracts starting at $30,000+ with extensive integration across your entire data infrastructure. Their AnyFind technology achieves high accuracy finding sensitive data in multiple file types, but you'll need dedicated IT resources to configure database scans across Active Directory, SQL databases, email archives, and embedded images.
Implementation typically takes months of setup before you can run your first comprehensive scans. Automated "playbooks" can quarantine, encrypt, redact, or delete sensitive documents, but these workflows require enterprise-grade planning and testing before deployment.This is enterprise toolkit territory - expect lengthy procurement processes, technical integrations with existing data security systems, and ongoing maintenance. Redaction capabilities through Private AI partnership handle multimedia content, but it's one feature within a broader data governance subscription rather than a focused redaction solution.
2. Redactable
When opposing counsel recovers "redacted" SSNs from black-boxed PDFs, organizations realize visual masking isn't actually redaction. Redactable provides AI-powered automated document redaction that permanently removes sensitive data with 98% time savings.
What typically takes lawyers 6 hours of manual redaction, Redactable completes in 7 minutes using AI. The U.S. Air Force awarded Redactable a $1.9 million contract because this data proitection tool actually destroys metadata and hidden text layers, not just covers them.
Unlike traditional black box approaches, Redactable's data deletion is irreversible - forensic recovery becomes impossible. The browser-based platform enables real-time collaboration for legal teams without software downloads.
This data protection software represents the gold standard for permanent sensitive data removal, making it essential for industries where document redaction carries legal liability. Understanding proper PDF redaction methods is crucial for compliance. Redactable offers a free trial and doesn’t require any installations or system integration.
3. Microsoft Purview Information Protection & DLP
Microsoft Purview automatically protects sensitive data across 40 billion documents daily, but accessing its redaction capabilities requires navigating enterprise licensing complexity and extensive administrative setup.
Redaction features are are a part of the eDiscovery Premium offering, requiring Microsoft 365 E5 licenses at $57+ per user per month - not available in standard E3 plans. You'll need dedicated compliance administrators to configure permissions, roles, and review sets through multiple Microsoft portals before redacting your first document.
The redaction workflow involves opening documents within Purview's eDiscovery interface, reviewing recommended redactions, manually selecting sensitive data, applying redactions, and committing changes before exporting. This isn't a simple "upload and redact" process - it's designed for legal discovery workflows with complex review sets and approval chains.While Purview offers comprehensive document security with sensitivity labeling, dynamic watermarking, and persistent encryption across 14 Microsoft apps, the redaction functionality is an enterprise compliance data security system requiring significant IT planning and premium licensing.
Data loss prevention solutions
4. Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention
When a JPMorgan Chase insider tried evading detection by converting Excel files to PDFs and renaming them, Forcepoint's patented fingerprinting technology still caught the attempt. This enterprise data security tool creates unique document signatures regardless of format changes.
Forcepoint's risk-adaptive engine adjusts policies based on user behavior - if someone suddenly accesses 50x more files than usual, it automatically increases scrutiny. Named IDC MarketScape Leader 2025, the platform includes 1,700+ compliance templates covering regulations in 90+ countries.
Their 20+ years of fingerprinting patents make evasion nearly impossible through file manipulation techniques that fool other data security systems. Most DLP tools flag suspicious activity after it happens. Forcepoint prevents incidents by detecting anomalous patterns before data leaves the organization.
5. Varonis Data Security Platform
Varonis discovered that 85% of enterprise data has no access controls and 40% is accessible to everyone. This data security tool achieves 98% classification accuracy while automatically reducing permissions for over-exposed files.
The platform automatically revokes excessive permissions without admin intervention. If a marketing person suddenly has access to HR salary data, Varonis removes that access automatically. One Fortune 500 company had 2.8 billion unprotected files with PII - Varonis automated remediation of 90% of exposures.
Traditional DLP assumes your file permissions are correct and monitors for policy violations. Varonis assumes permissions are wrong (they usually are) and fixes them automatically. This preemptive approach stops data breaches before they start, not just detects them afterward.
Enterprise rights management and data classification tools
6. Seclore Enterprise Digital Rights Management
When Siemens engineers needed to share CAD files with external contractors, Seclore ensured the files became unreadable after project completion - automatically. This data-centric security platform provides protection that travels with files across 500+ formats.
Files stay protected when saved to USB drives, uploaded to personal Gmail accounts, or sent through WhatsApp. Unlike network-based security, protection persists wherever documents travel, completely outside organizational perimeters.
Over 6 million users across 1000+ companies rely on Seclore for persistent file protection. Traditional security stops at your network perimeter. Seclore follows documents anywhere, maintaining control even when files are completely outside your organization.
7. Informatica Cloud Data Governance & Catalog
One Fortune 500 bank reduced data discovery time from 18 months to 6 weeks by automatically mapping customer data across 847 different applications. Informatica's AI-powered governance platform uses the CLAIRE AI engine to build business glossaries and map data lineage across 200+ enterprise systems.
CLAIRE AI reads database schemas and automatically suggests data classifications - identifying that "cust_ssn_hash" likely contains Social Security numbers without human input. The platform handles both structured database fields and unstructured documents simultaneously.
Most data governance data security tools require months of manual setup to understand your data landscape. Informatica's AI reads existing systems and builds governance frameworks automatically, essential for organizations drowning in data who need governance without multi-year implementation projects.
8. Collibra Data Intelligence Platform
When new GDPR requests arrive, Collibra automatically identifies every database table, spreadsheet, and document containing that person's data across the entire organization within minutes instead of months. This comprehensive data security system actively enforces data policies through automated workflows.
The platform automatically triggers legal hold notifications when litigation keywords appear in new documents. Policy engines can automatically expire access to sensitive datasets, quarantine non-compliant data, and generate audit reports without human intervention.
Over 1000 global enterprises use Collibra, which earned Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year recognition. Basic data catalogs tell you what data you have. Collibra actively manages it based on business rules, executing regulatory requirements automatically across thousands of data sources.
Business data encryption tools
9. Virtru Data Security Platform
If government agencies subpoena Virtru for your encrypted emails, they literally cannot decrypt them because they don't have your keys. This end-to-end encryption data protection platform gives customers complete control over encryption keys, not the vendor.
When NHS doctors needed to email patient X-rays during COVID, Virtru encrypted the images with keys stored on NHS servers, not Amazon's cloud. Recipients see normal emails, but behind the scenes, decryption keys are fetched from your infrastructure in milliseconds.
Unlike typical encryption services, you can revoke access to previously sent emails even after delivery - making sent emails unreadable remotely. Most "secure email" services encrypt your data with their keys on their servers. Virtru encrypts with your keys on your servers, providing true data sovereignty.
10. Thales CipherTrust Data Security Platform
When Equifax needed to encrypt 147 million customer records without slowing down credit check queries, CipherTrust's transparent encryption ensured applications never knew encryption was happening. This unified encryption platform protects data at rest, in motion, and in use without application changes.
Luna HSMs generate cryptographic keys in tamper-proof hardware that physically destroys keys if someone attempts extraction. Transparent encryption maintains full database performance while recently added confidential computing capabilities encrypt data while it's being processed in memory.
Database encryption typically requires extensive application rewrites and degrades performance. CipherTrust's transparent encryption works without code changes while maintaining full database speed, providing government-grade security for civilian enterprises.
11. PKWARE PK Protect Platform
PKWARE transforms a 500MB video into a 50MB encrypted file through persistent encryption that compresses and encrypts simultaneously. This achievement of up to 95% file compression alongside AES-256 encryption drastically reduces storage costs while improving security.
Smart Crypto technology adapts encryption methods based on file types - video files receive different treatment than spreadsheets for optimal compression ratios. Unlike basic encryption, files remain protected when moved between mainframes, cloud platforms, and mobile devices without re-encryption.
Traditional encryption bloats file sizes and increases storage costs. PKWARE reduces both storage footprint and security risk simultaneously, providing substantial cost savings alongside security improvements for organizations managing terabytes of sensitive files.
Secure collaboration platforms
12. Egnyte Content Cloud Platform
When BigLaw firms need to share 50GB of discovery documents with opposing counsel, Egnyte's hybrid architecture keeps originals in the firm's data center while providing secure external access through granular permissions. This hybrid cloud storage data security application maintains physical control over privileged documents while enabling external collaboration.
FedRAMP authorization allows government contractors to handle classified information in cloud environments. Unlike pure cloud storage, administrators see exactly which servers house their most sensitive data.
Pure cloud storage puts your data on someone else's servers. Pure on-premises storage blocks external collaboration. Egnyte bridges both worlds, crucial for industries that must collaborate externally while maintaining data sovereignty over sensitive information.
13. Box Shield
Box Shield detected the WannaCry ransomware attack by monitoring unusual file access patterns before any files were actually encrypted. This AI-powered malware detection data security system analyzes file behavior patterns rather than just signatures.
The platform analyzes over 1,500 file characteristics simultaneously - detecting when legitimate-looking PDFs contain malicious payloads. Unlike signature-based detection, Shield catches never-before-seen threats through behavioral analysis of how files interact with other content.
Traditional file security relies on known threat signatures and fails against custom malware. Box Shield's behavioral analysis catches sophisticated insider threats and zero-day attacks that signature-based systems miss completely.
Database security tools
14. IBM Guardium Data Protection
During the Capital One breach investigation, IBM Guardium provided millisecond-accurate logs showing exactly which queries accessed customer data and when. This real-time database monitoring system creates detailed audit trails of every query, login, and data access.
Guardium monitors 40+ database types simultaneously with less than 2% performance overhead. Vulnerability assessment automatically scans for 1,200+ database security weaknesses including default passwords, missing patches, and excessive privileges.
Database breaches often go undetected for months because administrators can't see who's accessing what data. Guardium provides real-time visibility into database activity essential for forensic investigations and compliance reporting. Studies show 406% ROI with $5.86 million in benefits over three years.
15. Oracle Advanced Security & Transparent Data Encryption
Oracle's Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) keeps credit card databases encrypted during real-time transaction processing without performance degradation. TDE encrypts entire database tablespaces at the storage layer while maintaining full SQL query performance.
If someone physically steals database servers, the data remains encrypted and useless without proper keys. Data Safe adds real-time SQL injection detection - automatically blocking suspicious queries before they can extract sensitive data.
Database encryption usually requires extensive application rewrites and kills performance. Oracle TDE encrypts at the storage layer with zero application changes and minimal performance impact, working seamlessly with 99.99% uptime SLAs.
Email security solutions
16. Mimecast Advanced Email Security
When CFOs receive urgent "wire transfer" requests from spoofed CEO emails, Mimecast's impersonation detection analyzes writing patterns, timing, and sender behavior to flag social engineering attempts with 99.99% accuracy. This multi-layered email data security tool quarantines suspicious emails for investigation rather than bouncing them back to senders.
Secure messaging creates encrypted email portals for sensitive communications - recipients click links to view messages in browser-based secure environments rather than exposing content in regular inboxes. The unified platform combines security, archiving, and continuity features.
Email remains the primary attack vector for data breaches, yet basic spam filters miss sophisticated social engineering. Mimecast's behavioral analysis catches human-targeted attacks that technical filters miss, while secure messaging enables confidential communication without complex encryption setups.
17. Microsoft Defender for Office 365
When attackers upload malicious files to legitimate SharePoint sites and email links to victims, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 analyzes the entire attack chain across Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Outlook simultaneously. This native threat detection data security tool understands emails within the context of your entire Microsoft ecosystem.
Safe Attachments service detonates email attachments in isolated virtual machines - if attachments behave maliciously, they're blocked before reaching inboxes. Unlike third-party solutions, Defender sees the full context of how Microsoft apps interact during attacks.
Bolt-on email security solutions can't see how attackers use legitimate Microsoft services for malicious purposes. Defender for Office 365 monitors the entire Microsoft ecosystem as one integrated platform, catching attacks that span multiple applications rather than just email.
Building your enterprise data security stack
Effective enterprise data security requires more than standalone solutions. These 17 data security tools work together to create comprehensive protection across the data lifecycle:
- Discovery and Classification: Start with platforms like Spirion and Informatica to understand what sensitive data exists across your organization. You cannot protect data you don't know exists.
- Protection and Encryption: Implement encryption solutions like Virtru and Thales to protect data at rest, in transit, and in use. Combine with rights management tools like Seclore for persistent protection.
- Monitoring and Detection: Deploy behavioral analytics through Varonis and database monitoring via IBM Guardium to detect unusual data access patterns before they become breaches.
- Collaboration Security: Enable secure external sharing through platforms like Egnyte and Box Shield that maintain control while enabling business collaboration.
- Document Redaction: If you need to redact sensitive documents today, start with Redactable for immediate AI-powered redaction without enterprise contracts or complex setup. While platforms like Spirion and Purview offer redaction within broader enterprise suites, dedicated redaction tools provide faster deployment and specialized workflows for legal, healthcare, and financial document processing.
Modern data security tools must integrate with existing business workflows rather than creating new processes. The most effective software protect sensitive information where business actually happens - in daily document sharing, database queries, email communications, and collaborative workspaces.
Organizations implementing comprehensive data protection tools typically see 60-80% reduction in data exposure risk while maintaining productivity. The key is selecting complementary solutions that address different aspects of data security rather than overlapping capabilities.
Ready to strengthen your data security? See how AI-powered document redaction fits into your comprehensive data protection strategy. Try Redactable's automated redaction and experience 98% time savings in your document security workflows.
Frequently asked questions
Key factors include integration with existing business workflows, accuracy in detecting sensitive data (look for 95%+ accuracy rates), compliance with relevant regulations (HIPAA, GDPR, SOX), scalability across your organization, and proven enterprise deployments. Avoid solutions that require major workflow changes or create productivity barriers.
The most critical data security tools for enterprises include data discovery platforms (like Spirion), document redaction solutions (like Redactable), data loss prevention systems (like Forcepoint), database monitoring tools (like IBM Guardium), and email security platforms (like Mimecast). Each addresses different aspects of enterprise data protection.
Key metrics include reduction in data exposure incidents, time savings in compliance processes (document redaction time, audit preparation), false positive rates in monitoring systems, and compliance audit results. Many organizations see 60-80% reduction in data exposure risk and 70-90% time savings in manual data protection tasks.
Data security software focuses on protecting sensitive information within business processes - documents, databases, emails, and collaboration platforms. Traditional IT security tools like firewalls and antivirus protect network infrastructure. Data security applications understand business context and workflows, while IT security tools focus on technical threats.
Data loss prevention (DLP) tools monitor and prevent unauthorized data exfiltration through policies and behavioral analysis. Data protection tools include broader capabilities like encryption, redaction, rights management, and access controls. DLP is reactive (preventing data from leaving), while data protection tools are proactive (protecting data wherever it goes).
The most effective approach combines specialized tools rather than relying on one platform. For example, use dedicated redaction software for document preparation, DLP platforms for monitoring, and encryption tools for protection. Integration capabilities and APIs allow different data security applications to work together while maintaining best-of-breed functionality.
Enterprise data security software costs vary widely based on scope and organization size. Document redaction tools may cost $50-200 per user annually, while comprehensive platforms like DLP solutions can range from $25-100 per protected endpoint. Database security tools often use core-based pricing. Most vendors offer tiered pricing based on features and scale.
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