Storage Full! What Your Photo Gallery and Data Security Have In Common

By Rob Rodriguez - Solutions Architect

July 9, 2025 3 Minute Read

If you have an iPhone, you probably have a lot of photos. I have over 9,000 photos on my iPhone, and couldn’t tell you what half of them are – it’s a mess. Screenshots. Receipts. Memes. Old vacation pics. Duplicate selfies. Maybe even a blurry photo of a whiteboard I swore I’d eventually “circle back to.”

Sound familiar? To be clear – this isn’t a blog about Android or iPhone security. It’s about how companies manage their data the way you manage your phone’s photo gallery.

• Data is scattered across apps, drives, clouds
• Some of it’s sensitive but no one’s labeling anything
• It’s being shared without oversight
• And someone’s probably accessing something they shouldn’t

Most organizations store thousands of files and have no idea what those files contain, who’s looking at them, or if they’re about to leak.

This is where Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) comes in handy.

What DSPM Actually Does

Gartner defines DSPM as a solution that:

“…provides visibility as to where sensitive data is, who has access to that data, how it has been used, and what the security posture of the data stored or application is.”

While DSPM is about data protection, you should know DSPM is not a replacement for Data Loss Prevention (DLP). DLP is about enforcing rules to secure known assets (e.g., identifying data that looks like a credit card number). DSPM is about finding what you didn’t even know was there, and then securing it. Here’s how:

• Discovery: Automatically identifies sensitive data—wherever it lives. Cloud, SaaS, shadow apps, you name it.
• Activity Analysis: Tracks how data is used, moved, and shared. Flags unusual or risky behavior.
• Risk Assessment: Pulls everything together to give you a real-world view of data risk across your organization.
• Remediation: Gives you clear, actionable steps to reduce exposure and lock down sensitive data.

TL;DR: DSPM is data protection without the guesswork.

Where Is My Data?

It’s tough for organizations to keep track of all their data and what kind it is. DSPM helps by automatically finding sensitive data wherever it lives – in the cloud, in apps, or even in unapproved places. It does this by scanning and labeling data storage, which helps us tell what’s sensitive and what’s not, and if it’s stored where it shouldn’t be. Think of it like finally organizing all those random photos on your phone!

Visibility – What Is Happening With My Data?

Once data has been discovered and classified, DSPM will help make sense of it by showing how the sensitive data is accessed and used. Imagine finding out a contractor has access to your company’s financial forecasts, which has nothing to do with their contract – a common, yet difficult problem to identify. With DSPM, you get better visibility into how data is used, moved, and shared, which helps flag unusual or risky behavior across the organization. 

This also helps boost confidence your DLP controls are enforcing compliance policies.

Remediation – Can I Prevent Data Breaches?

Once you have visibility on where your data is, and where your risks are, DSPM gives you clear, actionable steps to reduce exposure and lock down sensitive data. This can be in the form of recommendations, or through automated actions.

Conclusion 

DSPM stands out for its ability to streamline data protection. It’s not magic. It’s not just another acronym. It’s the digital version of organizing your “photo gallery” – at scale. DSPM is a powerful tool that streamlines data protection by helping you:

• Gain comprehensive visibility into all your data assets.
• Identify private or risky data.
• Monitor data usage patterns.
• Secure sensitive information.

Because leaking an embarrassing selfie might cost you some pride. But leaking customer data? That could cost a lot more.

For more information, contact us at Skyhigh Sales, or by reading our solutions brief here: https://bit.ly/43i9VrG

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