Do You Know Where Your Data Is

Data can end up in the unlikeliest of places, even for those organizations that have developed formal data governance policies and implemented technical controls to (try to) keep data in central data stores. Especially troublesome is data stored and worked with on user endpoints—workstations, laptops, devices—such as original unstructured files or containing data extracted from structured data sources. 

With this survey, SANS is seeking insight into the amount and makeup of data that exists on user endpoints versus central data stores, along with the rigor and effectiveness of policies that either restrict or support storing data on user endpoints. We are especially interested in the need for strategies organizations are using (or have used) to protect against the loss of such data, whether completely through deletion or through some unauthorized change to the original data.