ArundevarajM - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited
Real User
Top 5
Helps to prevent the loss of customer information in the environment
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution’s content classification is the best."
  • "The tool needs to integrate data classification."

What is our primary use case?

The solution helps with data loss prevention. It helps to prevent the loss of customer information in the environment.

What is most valuable?

The solution’s content classification is the best.

What needs improvement?

The tool needs to integrate data classification.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Forcepoint for three years.

Buyer's Guide
Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the tool’s stability an eight out of ten. The product is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten. The tool is scalable but it depends on the customer using it. Our company has around 80-90 customers for the solution.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is not complex and it will take around two to three hours for deployment to complete.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the tool a nine out of ten. I would recommend the solution as a digital guardian.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
PeerSpot user
Senior Information Security Engineer at Herbalife
Real User
Deployment and troubleshooting aspects need improving; encryption is a good feature
Pros and Cons
  • "This solution has a great encryption feature."
  • "The deployment and troubleshooting aspects of Forcepoint need improving."

What is our primary use case?

We are customers of Forcepoint and I'm a senior information security engineer.

What is most valuable?

I like the encryption feature of this solution as well as the proxy aspect of it. 

What needs improvement?

The deployment and troubleshooting aspects of Forcepoint are very difficult. Implementation is complex and not user-friendly. In addition, we have a problem because our Mac systems are not able to support Forcepoint which requires us to have two softwares to make it work. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for one year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution could be more stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is somewhat scalable but could be more so. Our whole organization uses the product, we have over 20,000 users. We have at least 10 staff involved in maintenance.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good but lacking in troubleshooting skills when it comes to Forcepoint. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing costs could be cheaper. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution five out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
771,212 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Richard Hermogeno - PeerSpot reviewer
Channels Management Head at Philippine National Bank
Real User
Top 5
Provides good security, is scalable, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is security."
  • "The setup is complex and has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

Forcepoint is installed on our company-issued laptops to act as an on-premises firewall. This ensures that we cannot access websites that are not whitelisted in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) system, even when working from home.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is security.

What needs improvement?

The administration should take a proactive approach to ensure that research-related websites can be accessed without having to be whitelisted, even if there are some sites that remain off-limits.

The setup is complex and has room for improvement.

The support is slow and has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is as stable as our internet connection.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I give the scalability a nine out of ten.

We have 3,000 employees using the solution.

How are customer service and support?

We use third-party technical support. The turnaround time for support is slow.

How was the initial setup?

I believe the initial setup is complex and is handled by another team.

The deployment was done over the weekends and it took the IT team approximately two to three months to deploy bank-wide.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing is on an annual basis.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

The solution requires around 15 people for deployment and maintenance.

I recommend the solution to others.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Shruti Shetty - PeerSpot reviewer
Implementation Specialist - Data Privacy at EVSPL
Reseller
Top 5
Offers good UAV Analytics engine and easy to install
Pros and Cons
  • "Some good features are basically its UAV Analytics engine. And even fingerprinting is really good in Forcepoint."
  • "One area that could be improved is the support. The current support is not very good. Because they don't come on time when a customer really needs it, they take a lot of time to troubleshoot anything."

What is our primary use case?

The main purpose of DLP is to protect data from being sent outside of the organization without authorization. So, my client uses it to protect emails and web traffic and to integrate with content classification and USB blocking systems.

What is most valuable?

Some good features are basically its UAV Analytics engine. And even fingerprinting is really good in Forcepoint.

Forcepoint recently released an in-line proxy feature, which is a great addition. Previously, users had to add an extension to their browsers, but now that's not necessary. Now, that extension is not needed. 

What needs improvement?

One area that could be improved is the support. The current support is not very good. Because they don't come on time when a customer really needs it, they take a lot of time to troubleshoot anything.

For Mac, they should introduce the feature of airdrop. Currently, no DLP detects the airdrop feature. Like, if we have an airdrop. So, no DLP detects that any file is going from Airdrop. Our customers have these use cases. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with this solution for five years. For Forcepoint, we are a titanium partner. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. We sell to medium and enterprise-level businesses. 

How was the initial setup?

It is an easy installation for Forcepoint.

To deploy Forcepoint, we would take almost a week because it's an on-prem solution. But now they have even a cloud platform. So it can be done in one or two days. It depends on the customer and how they provide the insight and everything.

One person is enough for the deployment and installation process. 

For Endpoint DLP, obviously, we are the people who do maintenance. But for SaaS-based, it is GTP service only.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is fine. It's a yearly based license. For endpoint Forcepoint DLP, they have another license, and for network DLP, they have another license.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. It is a really good product. 

It is very user-friendly, even for admins. However, the support is very low otherwise the product is very good. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
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Edwin Eze-Osiago - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Solutions Manager Sub Saharan Africa at Infodata Professional Services Limited
Real User
Top 5
Integrates well with third-party products and flexible
Pros and Cons
  • "Our organization's intellectual property is not misused or extracted without permission."
  • "I would like to see the product extended into the cloud as a single solution."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use for the product is to protect our intellectual property. Additionally, I use the product for compliance and regulatory purposes, which means ensuring that certain data is protected in accordance with regulations and standard policies. 

How has it helped my organization?

I have seen benefits, particularly in terms of increased confidence in compliance with data protection regulations. When it comes to external auditors, I am confident that they won't find any issues related to data protection. Additionally, it has increased my confidence that our organization's intellectual property is not misused or extracted without permission.

What is most valuable?

I like the product's integration at the network layer, which allows for integration with other vendors' security solutions as long as they are compatible with ICAP integration. For example, integrating DLP with web security or email security solutions. This flexibility is a valuable feature for me as it allows for more efficient use of the product, without necessarily requiring the use of all of Forcepoint's products.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see the product extended into the cloud as a single solution. It currently requires another product, the Cloud Access Security Brokers, to protect both on-premise and cloud data. I hope it can be consolidated into a single suite, offering protection for both On-Premise and cloud data, users on and off the corporate network, and users using corporate devices and BYOD. It would make the whole DLP process much more linear and efficient. I agree that moving to the cloud is the future and the present, and many people who use DLP have already made a move to the cloud.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention for six years, and I am currently using the latest version, which is 10.0. 

I have used over eight versions in the past and kept up with the updates as they were released.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the scalability of Forcepoint DLP as a nine out of ten. It has a supplemental server feature that allows for easy scaling. As the number of users and data traffic increases, all that is needed is to add an additional supplemental server, which is not complex and only requires a Windows machine with minimal specifications.

Let's say you have 10,000 users and one management console or server with two supplemental servers. Your management server stays the same as your user base grows to 20,000. You don't need to increase your management server. All you need to do is add supplemental servers, and you're ready to handle the increased user base and traffic.

How was the initial setup?

Implementing Forcepoint DLP can be a bit complex, as it requires a DLP expert to help with the setup. However, day-to-day administration is quite user-friendly. We are currently using the on-Prem version of Forcepoint DLP as no cloud version is available yet.

What about the implementation team?

We are Forcepoint partners. So as much as we sell the products, we have the technical skill sets to implement the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The term "expensive" is relative. If the ROI is good, no matter the amount of money invested, it is a win-win. If the cost meets the demands or it meets what you set out to do, what you set out to achieve. Holistically, it's not the most expensive compared to its competitors.

Forcepoint is being fully transparent with its costs. There are no hidden costs or extra costs.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it a ten out of ten.

If you are considering using Forcepoint DLP, it is miles ahead of its competitors in the realm of DLP. Forcepoint stands out as the clear leader when we compare pure DLP solutions. The closest competitor would be Symantec, but even they are miles behind in terms of capabilities. So, if you're looking for a top-performing DLP solution, Forcepoint is the way to go.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 5
An easy-to-manage solution that needs to improve support
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to manage."
  • "I am not able to get support directly from Forcepoint."

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to manage. 

What needs improvement?

I am not able to get support directly from Forcepoint. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the product for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the solution's stability a seven out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate Forcepoint DLP's scalability an eight out of ten. My company has 11,000 users. 

How are customer service and support?

The tool's support does not provide urgent solutions when we face issues. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

We have five resources to handle Forcepoint DLP's maintenance. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Forcepoint DLP a seven out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Management Executive at a security firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Good interface, powerful OCR and data discovery capabilities, customizable
Pros and Cons
  • "The scalability is fantastic. One of the things that I like about Forcepoint is that I can customize the solution to suit my objectives."
  • "With respect to the discovery component, the reports are very hard to interpret because they come out in an illogical format."

What is our primary use case?

We are a solution provider and Forcepoint DLP is one of the products that we implement for our clients. We have Forcepoint DLP at one of the telcos and one of the things that we are trying to discover is information, across the organization, that is of a personal nature. We are using it to comply with POPI, which is the equivalent of GDPR in South Africa. We are also using it for PCI-DSS requirements. This discovery component works quite well with respect to the search.

How has it helped my organization?

When we deployed it for a bank, it proved highly efficient in terms of PCI compliance. It was very quick to pick up where people were divulging personal information regarding credit card holders. We then deployed very simple rules that we had customized, without the need for data classification.

Initially, if you were just doing PCI-DSS, because it's very limited information that you needed to protect, you could do it without data classification. This was good for an organization that had data to protect and wanted to comply with PCI-DSS, but had not done the data classification at that point.

The rules that we put into place were simple. For example, if more than two credit card numbers are being pushed out then block it, or first put it into monitoring mode and then block it.

What is most valuable?

One thing that I really like is that you can customize the rules. 

What needs improvement?

The challenges that we've had are related to deployment, especially around the discovery component, and with the local support that we receive in South Africa.

With respect to the discovery component, the reports are very hard to interpret because they come out in an illogical format. We forwarded the reports to our local support team, who were also unable to help me. Eventually, the problem went to the UK for that team to interpret the report.

Ultimately, my biggest challenge is the discovery component with respect to the reports, as good as it is in terms of the integrity, or the search. It is a question of how you translate technical reports into business language. We tried the cloud version, which is Forcepoint CASB, and we found the same thing.

The local support team is made up more of salespeople than engineers and as such, the support in South Africa can be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

My experience with Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention goes back to 2005 when it was still called PortAuthority. The product has evolved massively since that time. I have deployed it and worked with it for different organizations at different locations.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Initially, it takes a little bit of processing but nothing to be too concerned about. Stability-wise, nothing has really annoyed us. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is fantastic. One of the things that I like about Forcepoint is that I can customize the solution to suit my objectives. For example, if I only wanted to prevent PCI then I could just go in and do that.

One of my clients has quite a large deployment, with approximately 30,000 users. They have plans to roll it out to the rest of Africa.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support from the UK is good. However, the experience of local support in South Africa is not at the level it should be. Most of the local staff are salespeople, as opposed to engineers. Support for the deployment of the product is seriously lacking.

In the UK, they were much more knowledgeable about the product, as well as the outputs and how to actually read them to make business sense out of them. It was much better than what we had in South Africa. Locally, they simply said that they didn't understand it. Most customers will shy away from products when the support is like this.

Because they answer the phone, I would rate the local support a two out of ten. The European support was better, so I would rate them a five out of ten. There were delays in their response but I'm not sure if it was related to the difference in time, or it was part of the ticket escalation process.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

One of our clients was using the Symantec solution prior to Forcepoint. We convinced them to switch because Symantec does not have a great presence in South Africa and support was an issue.

They had been using it for quite a long time and had not seen the necessary return on investment. With the new legislation, it was time for them to change to something that was more practical, and more user-friendly. The product works great now.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation is not as easy as people make it out to be. Once you get it right, the product is fine, but this requires understanding it and getting the proper training. A novice that has begun to work with the tool can find it quite difficult to implement if they don't have a good understanding of the product, and do not have the right support.

For example, in one organization it took us about three months to implement it, whereas it should have taken about a month.

Our clients have hybrid deployments, where they are part on-premises and part cloud. The choice of cloud provider is made by the client but they either choose Microsoft Azure or AWS.

The implementation strategy that we use varies depending on the client. For example, at the bank, we wanted to prevent data breaches, especially with credit card information, and ensure compliance. Therefore, our strategy was focused on just the PCI requirements so that we could take reasonable measures to protect the organization. Essentially, we wanted to go from zero to hero quite quickly. That was possible because of the flexibility and agility of the product.

When it came to the telco, it was a completely different strategy. It was a long-term strategy in terms of protection of personal information and preventing it from being divulged without authority to would-be criminals.

When we deployed it, we literally had to look at the requirements and configure it from a POPI perspective. In this regard, the deployment was skewed toward personal information breaches.

What about the implementation team?

We worked with a local reseller, Performanta.

Their skills were meant to be the best in the country but it left a lot to be desired. We had to use the UK offices and that's a challenge with most of the organizations in South Africa. With big vendors, South Africa is a small market, so the investment in South Africa is not what it should be. Understanding, managing, and integrating products needs to be improved, in general.

For deployment, there were eight of us in total. Two were engineers, there were four analysts because we had to write the business rules and document them, there was a project manager and a few others.

Maintenance is being done by the client, in-house. They have two engineers that are responsible for it, and they have purchased support from the local providers.

What was our ROI?

My clients are seeing ROI because the privacy office is quite comfortable now that they've done everything reasonable to meet the compliance requirements. There is a level of assurance provided by the DLP solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In terms of pricing, it is good for a corporation but they do not cater to small to medium businesses. They have to look at a different pricing structure for small to medium-sized enterprises because the cost is too high.

This is compounded for the African market because of the exchange rate. One dollar is equal to approximately 15 rands and if you were to multiply that by the price of the product, it becomes quite costly.

There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing feed, although you still need to understand the operational impact that it has on an organization from a resource perspective. That needs to be factored into the total cost of ownership.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We compared Forcepoint with NetSkope to assess its reporting capabilities and we found that the NetSkope report was very easy to translate, understand, and explain to a business. Forcepoint was instead very cumbersome, unstructured, and illogical. It required an expert to actually interpret the report, which is something that you don't want.

We have also looked at the McAfee product, as well as the one from Microsoft. At that stage, the solution from Microsoft was a little immature and I have not looked at it since. Forcepoint was the leader when we implemented it for our clients.

Comparing Forcepoint to the other products in general, the data discovery capability was great, except for the interpretation of the report. The OCR capabilities were also good for us because it's a telco and they have a lot of paper going through. 

What other advice do I have?

The tool works great but they don't talk about the operationalization of the tool from a process perspective. When people sell DLP solutions, they talk about the efficiency of the tool, but they don't talk about the impact that it has on an organization from a resource perspective.

You would need a team to analyze all of the exceptions that you have, like the way they do in a SOC, where you have analysts looking at the incident. They analyze and investigate it, and then determine whether it is positive or negative and something that we have to be worried about. For example, our organization had approximately 70,000 end-users, who were employees. There is quite a large amount of data that is transferred across our network.

In our case, if a person is sending more than one credit card credential out of the bank, it was flagged. If it was more than one, you had to have a whole backend process where the analyst had to look at it, then perhaps ask the person why they were sending out this information.

When we were first looking at this product, there was nobody who informed the customer as to the complete ecosystem that would be required to have an effective DLP solution in play.

My advice for anybody who is looking at Forcepoint is that they need to understand what it is that they are trying to prevent. You cannot be totally dependent on the tool to do everything. This is not a criticism of Forcepoint but rather, a criticism of the way it's sold. The product will do what it's built to do. But, if you're expecting it to automatically manage the incident, then it cannot do everything. It can block, it can monitor, and it can create alerts, but you still need your analysts. For most CSOs or IT managers that are looking to deploy, they must factor in the practical implications of operationalizing it. They need to have a process in place. They need to have an escalation process in place, and they need to have resources like analysts to actually look at the exception reports.

This is an effective data leakage solution, it does what it's meant to be doing, and the interfaces are great. The biggest lesson that I have learned from using it is to understand the total cost of ownership.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Hassan Moussafir - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Senior Expert at Wafaassurance
Real User
An industry leader providing excellent sensitive data protection that's very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution offers very good sensitive data protection."
  • "It would be wonderful if the solution could develop more AI and machine learning capabilities. It would also be good if the solution was able to integrate with other ML and AI solutions. Right now, this is lacking."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for processing our sensitive data which is strategic data and strategic information exchanged between our top management personnel. 

The purpose was to acquire the solution to protect us from incidents involving the sensitive data from our group getting taken. This happened previously, where data was taken from us and given to another competitor. There was another leak as well and since then we've tried to carefully guard our data and implemented, for example, Apple Mail to protect our mail from third parties.

What is most valuable?

The product is interesting. It meets our needs very well. It's the best solution when compared to Symantec, for example. We have both ForcePoint and Gartner as well and it's a leader among similar solutions.

The solution offers very good sensitive data protection.

The solution is excellent at protecting strategic information. I deployed it when I was working in the petrol industry for an oil and gas group. It was the biggest one in Morocco. We held important information about critical activities, including providing gas and oxygen for the hospital. We were considered critical IT and we had to comply with the operative elective and the law. DLP helped us to protect our data and we improved our safety in order to comply with the law and existing regulations.

What needs improvement?

It would be wonderful if the solution could develop more AI and machine learning capabilities. It would also be good if the solution was able to integrate with other ML and AI solutions. Right now, this is lacking.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started working with Forcepoint DLP three years ago. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable enough.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution easily scales. We are able to expand it as needed.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support was good. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The is the first type of solution in this category that we have used.

How was the initial setup?

In terms of implementing the solution, it's not easy and not complex. It's average. The deployment's level of difficulty is average as well. You just need to have the prerequisites satisfied. 

I appreciate their support because their support was with us to assist us until we deployed the two instances in our infrastructure.

I was the CISO, the Chief Information Security Officer of the company, at the time. My scope was to assist and to manage the project from the start to the close. I worked with the operational security to deploy it.

My scope was to cover governance. For example, elaborating on the policy for classification. It was a prerequisite to define the policy target in the DLP and to organize or to plan for the workshop with the strategic and sensitive entities in our group. I made sure they tried the solution and integrated the entities into the pilot side as well. 

What about the implementation team?

The solution's support assisted us throughout the deployment process.

What other advice do I have?

We were on Office 365 on the cloud. It wasn't enough. Since then, we've described our policy to Apple Mail and have elaborated out information classification. Afterward, we invited the business and the strategic entity to workshops to classify the data effectively and try the solution after implementing the DLP.

We use a hybrid deployment model and acquired the solution with the hybrid functionality to help protect our sensitive data in the inter-managed hybrid space.

The solution has been good, and it has responded to our needs. As a group, we were afraid of the safety around our sensitive data which was exchanged in our mail. We had an obligation to protect the data classified as confidential or restricted. The solution, since implementation, has helped us to protect our data and mitigate risk effectively.

ForcePoint also offers a bundle that includes modules that cover URL filtering and app data for other DLPs. It's very good.

Based on my experience, I advise any other organizations to test, try, and to be convinced by the solution before fully implementing it. Users will need to define exactly what it is they need from it and what their exact needs are to effectively deploy it. I think every user will appreciate that solution. 

We've experienced a lot of cyberattacks, so the DLP is necessary for us and would be beneficial to any company that has critical activities or has staff that exchanges sensitive data.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2024
Product Categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.