Four Truths of Public Sector Data Security

A New Reality for Data Security Posture Management in Government

Public sector leaders are responsible for an enormous amount of sensitive data – from student records and health information to licensing and benefits systems. That data doesn’t stay neatly in one database or one file share. It moves across Teams, SharePoint, email, and cloud storage. It’s shared with contractors, copied into new systems, and often left behind when projects or staff turn over.

For agencies, this creates two challenges: first, keeping track of where sensitive information actually lives, and second, making sure the right people, and only the right people, have access. Traditional tools surface alerts or help agencies check boxes for compliance, but they rarely give a complete picture.

That’s why Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) is becoming essential in government. At its core, DSPM is about maintaining a clear, ongoing understanding of your data, your risks, and your ability to prove security and compliance when it matters. To frame it simply, here are four truths that define what effective DSPM looks like for public sector organizations.

Truth #1: You Can’t Protect What You Can’t See

Visibility is the foundation of security. Agencies can’t reduce risks or prove compliance if they don’t know where sensitive data is stored, how it’s being used, and who has access to it.

The challenge is that public sector data doesn’t sit in one place. A single citizen record might be touched by multiple systems – from legacy file shares to modern cloud platforms – shared with external partners, and stored in different formats across environments. Without visibility, it’s nearly impossible to know whether that record is secure, compliant, or at risk of exposure.

Why it matters: Clear visibility into data isn’t a luxury, it’s table stakes. Agencies that lack it end up reacting to issues after the fact rather than preventing them.

Truth #2: The Wrong People Will Find Open Doors

Most security gaps in government aren’t caused by sophisticated attacks — they’re caused by ordinary oversights. A contractor’s account stays active after their project ends. A Teams site created for a short-term task never gets shut down. A folder meant for a small group ends up shared with “everyone” because it was the fastest way to move work forward.

Research shows these aren’t edge cases — they’re the rule. According to Mimecast’s State of Human Risk Report, human error played a role in 95% of data breaches in 2024. (infosecurity-magazine.com) And Verizon’s 2023 DBIR found that about 74% of breaches involved the human element, from misconfigurations to privilege misuse. (ostermanresearch.com)

That’s why access governance has to be a central part of any DSPM strategy. It’s not enough to know where data is stored — agencies also need to know who can reach it, why they have that access, and whether it still makes sense. Without that clarity, “open doors” stay open far longer than intended.

Why it matters: In the public sector, small access mistakes can escalate quickly into public incidents. Reducing oversharing and tightening access helps agencies lower risk without slowing down collaboration.

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Truth #3: Compliance Doesn’t Equal Security

Some agencies place a lot of stock in how they stack up against compliance standards. Passing an audit can give confidence — but it can also create blind spots if real-world access, behavior, or system changes aren’t continuously monitored.

The reason is simple: compliance reviews are typically periodic and policy-driven, while security risks are continuous and behavior-driven.

That gap shows up in a few ways:

• Timing: Audits are snapshots. They confirm that policies and controls exist at a point in time, but they don’t guarantee those controls are followed every day.

• Enforcement: Policies may call for contractor accounts to be deactivated or access to be tightly scoped, but in practice, permissions often creep or linger.

• Complexity: Many agencies run hybrid environments — some cloud, some on-prem, lots of external vendors and partners. It’s difficult for compliance frameworks to account for that complexity in detail.

• Behavior: Human decisions and mistakes can’t be fully codified in compliance checklists. Training helps, but it doesn’t prevent every oversharing link or misused credential.

None of this means compliance is unimportant. Frameworks like NIST CSF 2.0, HIPAA, or FERPA provide structure, accountability, and a way to benchmark progress. But compliance alone doesn’t guarantee that everyday practices align with those standards.

Why it matters: Compliance should be seen as the floor, not the ceiling. Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) helps agencies go further — carrying oversight into daily operations, so security doesn’t just exist on paper but in practice.

Truth #4: Modern Security Can’t Be Manual

Even when agencies know what they need to do — find sensitive data, limit access, and maintain compliance — the execution is overwhelming. IT and security teams are already stretched thin. Asking them to manually audit every system, close every account, and monitor every permission isn’t realistic.

Manual approaches also don’t scale. Agencies may manage oversight for a handful of systems, but as environments expand — cloud platforms, legacy databases, external contractors — the workload multiplies. Teams end up focusing on the most visible risks, while older data stores and dormant accounts slip through the cracks.

Automation built into DSPM allows agencies to continuously monitor for misconfigurations, oversharing, or stale accounts across their environment. Instead of relying on staff to chase every issue, DSPM ensures risks are surfaced and addressed consistently, at the scale today’s environments demand.

Why it matters: Manual oversight may work in isolated cases, but it won’t keep pace with government systems as they evolve. To truly modernize security, agencies need scalable approaches that go beyond what human effort alone can sustain.

Turning Truth into Action

The four truths of DSPM highlight where agencies are most at risk: when they lack visibility into their data, leave access unchecked, treat compliance as the end goal, or depend on manual processes that can’t keep up.

Agencies that treat compliance as the floor (not the ceiling), govern access with discipline, and automate oversight are better positioned to protect citizen data, maintain public trust, and support mission outcomes.

If these truths resonate, AvePoint is here to help. We work with agencies across the public sector to take a proactive, sustainable approach to data security — one that goes beyond checkboxes and helps teams modernize their posture with confidence.