From Discovery to Access Governance: How GEODI DSPM Secures Unstructured Data

Most data security risks don’t start with attackers.
They start with not knowing your data.

• Where it lives
• What it contains
• And who can access it

As unstructured data continues to grow across file servers, SharePoint, and OneDrive, organizations struggle to maintain visibility and control. Permissions accumulate over time, sensitive data spreads quietly, and security teams are left without clear answers to fundamental risk questions.

This is exactly the problem GEODI DSPM is built to solve.

The Challenge of Unstructured Data Security

Unstructured data represents the majority of enterprise data — and the least governed.

Common challenges include:

• Sensitive data scattered across thousands of locations
• Permissions inherited, copied, and rarely reviewed
• Users with access far beyond business need
• Limited visibility into effective access
• Manual and time-consuming audits

Without clear insight into both data sensitivity and data access, security teams are forced to make decisions in the dark.

GEODI DSPM: Visibility Comes First

GEODI DSPM begins with Discovery and Classification, creating a complete and continuously updated view of unstructured data.

Discovery

GEODI DSPM automatically discovers unstructured data across:

• File servers
• SharePoint Online
• OneDrive for Business

It builds a centralized inventory that shows where data exists and how it is distributed across the environment.

Classification

Once discovered, data is classified to identify:

• Sensitive and regulated information
• Business-critical content
• Risk-relevant data types

This answers the first critical question:
What data do we have, and how sensitive is it?

Introducing Access Governance

Knowing what data exists is only half the equation.
To understand real risk, organizations must also know:

‍Who can access that data?

Access Governance extends GEODI DSPM by providing visibility into permissions and effective access across unstructured data.

It enables organizations to:

• Discover permissions across file servers, SharePoint, and OneDrive
• Resolve direct access, group membership, and nested groups
• Analyze inheritance and explicit permissions
• Calculate effective access at the user level
• Identify overexposed and high-risk access patterns

Reporting and Audit-Ready Insights

A critical part of Access Governance is reporting, which transforms permission visibility into actionable intelligence:

• User-based access reports
• Data-based access reports
• Sensitive data exposure reports
• Audit-ready exports (PDF, Excel)

With these reports, security teams and auditors can quickly understand who has access to sensitive data, where overexposure exists, and what actions to prioritize.

Why Access Governance Matters

Without access context:

• All sensitive data appears equally risky
• Security teams struggle to prioritize
• Audits are slow and disruptive
• Excessive access remains hidden

With Access Governance:

• Sensitive data exposure becomes visible
• Risk can be prioritized based on actual access
• Reports are clear and audit-ready
• Organizations gain confidence in access decisions

This is how DSPM evolves from awareness to actionable governance.

Built for What Comes Next

Access Governance currently focuses on discovery, analysis, and reporting of permissions.

Remediation is coming visibility is the foundation.

Future capabilities will include:

• Permission correction
• Access reviews
• Least-privilege enforcement

A Complete DSPM Approach

Together, GEODI DSPM delivers:

• Discovery – Know where your unstructured data lives
• Classification – Know what your data contains
• Access Governance – Know who can access sensitive data, with reporting for insight and audit

This unified approach enables organizations to understand, prioritize, and reduce unstructured data risk with clarity today and control on the roadmap.

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