Energen Safeguards Data and Reduces Risk with Symantec Data Loss Prevention

Leading Energy Company Protects 450,000 Customer Records with Symantec

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that Energen Corp., a leading independent energy exploration and production company, is using Symantec Data Loss Prevention to protect its confidential customer and employee data. With the Symantec Data Loss Prevention suite, Energen monitors the flow of personally identifiable information sent across its network, automatically routes email messages for encryption and provides the IT team with visibility into the company’s Data Loss Prevention performance.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., Energen focuses on acquiring, developing and exploring natural gas, oil and natural gas liquid (NGL) reserves. With more than 1,400 employees, the company and its regulated business operations serve more than 450,000 customers in north and central Alabama.

“Symantec Data Loss Prevention provides Energen with a comprehensive, accurate view of the information that is moving across our network and beyond, without creating extra work for our IT staff,” says Frederick Curry, director, IT Risk Management, Energen. “The solution gives us the confidence that our confidential data is protected by enabling us to take proactive steps to prevent data loss and giving us detailed and timely reports on the company’s data loss prevention stance.”

Energen uses Symantec Data Loss Prevention to inspect communications across its entire network, including SMTP, FTP and IM traffic. Symantec Data Loss Prevention detects incidents based on the company’s employee and customer data security policies to prevent sensitive data from being sent unencrypted.

“One of the unique features of Symantec Data Loss Prevention is that you can securely load real data streams into the system and it will automatically match them against real data it finds in email messages,” says Curry.

Energen Takes a Proactive Lead in Data Loss Prevention

In addition to monitoring the flow of personally identifiable information of customers and employees, Energen uses Symantec Data Loss Prevention to automatically route messages containing sensitive data to an encryption system, which stores the message on a secure server. The intended recipient then receives an email asking them to log on and read the message. The process ensures greater security without requiring any extra effort from employees.

The software also enables Energen’s IT staff to enforce security policies and educate employees on how they can support the company’s data security initiatives—allowing Energen to take proactive steps to prevent the loss of confidential customer or employee data.

“Symantec Data Loss Prevention transparently allows our business to communicate safely while ensuring that the appropriate protections are always active,” says Curry.