Product Watch: Verizon Launches Data Discovery, Identification, And Security Classification Service

Verizon Business today expanded its security consulting services with a new offering that identifies where an organization's data resides and the specifics of what it contains.

The new Data Discovery, Identification and Security Classification (DDISC), which is now available in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific, discovers, identifies, and classifies its data in servers and across a business' customers, partners, and suppliers. The service includes analysis from Verizon Business' own IT security consultants, who study the sensitivity of the data in question and analyze its relevance to the business. The service determines whether a business is securing and handling its far-flung data properly.

Verizon Business found in its recent 2009 Data Breach Investigations Report that two-thirds of data in breaches was data the victim organization didn't know about.

"As corporate and customer information have become a critical asset, securing the path this information travels is critical for many businesses," said Irida Xheneti, security services research analyst at IDC, in a statement. "Organizations, however, are struggling to even locate where the information resides and then prioritize it accordingly. Through its new service, Verizon Business is enabling enterprises to protect critical information while also assisting them in building a proactive, risk-based approach to IT security."

But the service isn't completely new: Verizon Business had been offering it on a custom basis.

Verizon also offers governance risk and compliance, data loss and prevention, identity management, and managed security services.

"We believe this approach represents a change in security strategy as the industry increasingly sees security as much more than the protection of networks or applications," said Dr. Peter Tippett, vice president of innovation and technology at Verizon Business, in a statement. "Our new consulting services reflect this shift and take a data-centric approach to security that emphasizes the business value of information and its potential impact on the organization."

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