data loss prevention
A set of rules and tools that stop sensitive files or data from being accessed, shared or leaked by accident, including by AI assistants.
Data loss prevention, usually shortened to DLP, is a category of security tool that companies use to stop sensitive information, financial records, legal contracts, confidential documents, from ending up somewhere it shouldn’t. Traditionally that meant blocking risky email attachments or restricting who could copy certain files.
As AI assistants like Gemini and Copilot got the ability to search through a company’s own documents to answer questions, that same protection needed to extend to them too. Modern DLP tools now let administrators set rules so an AI assistant simply can’t see or reference certain files, based on their content or how they’re labeled, even if an employee asks it to.