Implementing a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution is an essential first step. However, maintaining consistent enforcement across all endpoints remains a common challenge—particularly in heterogeneous environments.
The problem:
On Windows systems, Endpoint Protector offers robust protection against tampering. Users, even those with administrative privileges, are unable to terminate the agent.
Conversely, on macOS and Linux, users with elevated permissions can stop or remove services, including the DLP agent itself. In many technical teams—developers, engineers, system administrators—revoking admin rights is not a viable option. This raises a critical question: what happens if the final layer of defense is disabled?
Visibility Provides a Failsafe Mechanism
This is where Netwrix Change Tracker becomes crucial.
It functions like a watchdog—not monitoring the data directly, but safeguarding the very mechanisms that protect it.
- Continuously confirms that the Endpoint Protector agent is active
- Detects if services are halted, deleted, or modified
- Delivers real-time notifications via email, syslog, ticketing systems, or SIEM
- Correlates service changes with authorized maintenance or suspicious activity
If the agent is disabled—deliberately or inadvertently—this event is detected immediately.
A Practical Illustration:
- Endpoint Protector enforces DLP rules and manages USB device access on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Change Tracker maintains oversight over the DLP agent’s operational state, even when admin privileges are present on endpoints.
Combined, they offer a layered security approach: one component prevents sensitive data from leaking, the other ensures this prevention mechanism is continuously operational.
Why Not Simply Remove Admin Rights?
Ideally, that would be the solution. Fewer users with permanent admin privileges equates to a lower risk profile.
The advantage is that Netwrix Endpoint Policy Manager (formerly known as PolicyPak) provides a structured way to achieve this:
- Revoke local admin rights without disrupting daily operations.
- Allow elevated access only for designated applications or tasks.
- Replace rigid AppLocker rules with SecureRun™ policies.
This is the strategy forward-thinking organizations use to shift from passive trust to active enforcement and verification.
Key Insight: Trust, but Verify
Installing DLP agents alone is insufficient—they must also remain continuously operational.
To address this, Netwrix promotes a multi-layered defense strategy:
- Endpoint Protector: Protects against data exfiltration.
- Change Tracker: Verifies enforcement integrity.
- Policy Manager: Minimizes long-term privilege risks.
Together, these tools not only secure endpoints but also provide tangible evidence of security control enforcement.
