Zscaler DSPM for Ultimate Data Security on Google Cloud Ofer Yarom (Director, Product Management)

The Need for Unified Data Security in the AI and Cloud EraAs organizations continue embracing cloud data and AI technologies across multiple public clouds, Google Cloud remains a popular choice due to its rich ecosystem of analytics tools and business applications. However, the flexibility that makes Google Cloud attractive—such as seamless data movement and simplified permission management—also introduces notable security challenges. The unrestricted flow of sensitive data between data stores and cloud service providers can create vulnerabilities that are difficult to address effectively. Without comprehensive security, organizations risk exposing critical data to security breaches or violating compliance regulations. Mitigating these risks requires adopting a proactive approach to managing data visibility and implementing sophisticated security frameworks tailored to the Google Cloud distinct architecture. Businesses must balance leveraging Google Cloud’s convenience while proactively addressing its inherent security concerns.Many security teams respond to security challenges by adding separate tools for each emerging threat, but this fragmented approach inevitably creates risks like:Siloed visibility across data stores, SaaS apps, and cloud services, which makes it difficult to see where sensitive information actually residesPolicy sprawl leading to contradictory controls that leave gaps attackers can exploitManual triage overwhelming teams who must stitch together alerts from dozens of consolesConcerns over these challenges are widespread—the 2024 Cloud Security Report by Cybersecurity Insiders revealed that 96% of security professionals say they’re worried about public cloud security. To break the cycle, businesses are turning to data‑centric offerings that combine contextual understanding with automated enforcement. One powerful example is the combination of Zscaler Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) and Google Cloud security services, which work together seamlessly to improve security and control without adding complexity. Understanding Zscaler DSPM and its Data Security SuperpowersSecurity teams can now use Zscaler DSPM to address data security in Google Cloud in a holistic manner, addressing all key use cases: data discovery, data classification, data access governance, data risk detection, and compliance.Zscaler DSPM safeguards data wherever it lives—whether that’s in Google Cloud storage buckets, third‑party SaaS repositories, or on‑prem databases headed to the cloud. It discovers sensitive data, classifies it, tracks exposure, and correlates misconfigurations and vulnerabilities to prevent and remediate cloud data breaches at scale. It effectively closes gaps that network‑centric and agent‑based tools might miss.Capabilities that make this possible include:Public Exposure Mapping: DSPM scans your google cloud projects and detects publicly exposed resources so your teams can eliminate accidental sharing before it becomes a headline.Vulnerability and Malware Scanning: Zscaler DSPM scans to detect vulnerable packages and applications deployed in Google Cloud, pinpointing attack vectors that might otherwise go unnoticed. Additionally, it identifies malware-infected files within your cloud storage.Risk Analysis: Zscaler DSPM explores your cloud, testing it for hundreds of multi dimensional attack vectors revealing your risks, providing priority to correcting the issues based on risk likelihood and impacted data, and guiding you through the remediation flow.Data Store Visualization: DSPM creates a data inventory graph for Google Cloud data stores, providing visibility into cloud storage buckets, Cloud SQL instances (supporting SQL, MySQL and PostgreSQL), and Google Compute Engines with their associated disks that contain sensitive data.Compliance Management: Zscaler DSPM continuously monitors your Google Cloud environment for violations against standards like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and NIST. It streamlines audit readiness with clear, actionable reports and simplifies cross-team compliance efforts.Org‑level Risk and Trend Reporting: Zscaler tracks your risk from the data store level to the Org level, making it simple to identify the state of the security management journeyGranular Policy Enforcement: DSPM allows complete customization and enforcement of any policy, adjusting and tailoring the policies as per the organization requirement, building it from scratch with easy-to-use graphic interface. How Zscaler DSPM Revolutionizes Data SecurityGoogle Cloud provides robust native services—such as Cloud Asset Inventory, Cloud Data Loss Prevention, and Google Security Operations—that help organizations discover and govern data. Still, to protect against sophisticated threats, businesses need advanced, specialized solutions. Combining Zscaler DSPM with Google Cloud delivers measurable security improvements by helping businesses:Discover and Classify Data Zscaler DSPM scans and discovers data across your entire environment, including Google Cloud and other cloud services. It automatically scans onboarded Google Cloud projects (accounts) to provide security teams with up to date state of all the cloud data assets, associated risk posture. With an intelligent approach to scans that monitors and tracks incremental changes, Zscaler DSPM minimizes the scan workload in cloud environments, thereby improving scan times. With AI-powered data classification, security teams can accurately classify unstructured (Google Cloud Bucket and Compute Engines Disks) as well as structured data (Cloud SQL) residing in Google Cloud and then categorize it based on predefined or custom policies. AI-based data classification provides visibility into cloud data sprawl, revealing sensitive information even in unexpected locations within the Google Cloud environment.Track Data Exposure and MisconfigurationsBy continuously monitoring and analyzing the risk posture, Zscaler DSPM helps security teams to understand which critical data assets are actually at risk and prioritize risk remediation efforts in fixing issues.. This capability also helps identify hidden risks such as misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and vulnerabilities in Google Cloud services so security teams can better understand the potential blast radius of compromised assets before any threats materialize.Enforce Granular Access Policies with Data Access GovernanceZscaler DSPM continuously monitors and analyzes all Google Cloud users, their roles, the access policies and policy statements as well as resource level allow/block permissions to give security teams a clear view of the resulting access grants and privileges available for various users across the cloud data assets. Security teams can easily identify which sensitive Google Cloud data stores have users with excessive privileges. This insight can be used to tweak the access policies to enforce least privilege across all critical data assets.Enforce Consistent Policies Zscaler DSPM leverages a centralized policy engine to apply security standards uniformly across your multicloud environment, eliminating protection gaps that can occur among different cloud platforms. It also automatically extends to new workloads, allowing teams to innovate without compromising security.Maintain Continuous Compliance with Simplified OperationsZscaler DSPM continuously maps your Google Cloud posture against regulatory benchmarks to identify and remediate compliance violations tied to GDPR, HIPAA, NIST, PCI DSS and more. The compliance dashboard simplifies security collaboration among cross-functional teams working with Google Cloud resources, making it easier to control violations and streamline audits.Secure AI Usage and Innovations AI workloads rely on massive volumes of data, often sensitive, proprietary, or regulated. DSPM helps security teams automate data governance without slowing innovation. It helps to get comprehensive visibility and control over the data used by AI services. It can discover, classify, and ensure regulatory standards alignment for data used in AI training pipelines by applying effective controls. It also prevents data oversharing by identifying outdated or non-compliant datasets. This can flag alerts and pinpoint risks such as unauthorized access, policy violations, or data drift securing and governing the data that powers AI systems. Building a Future-ready Data Security StrategyModern enterprises need data-centric defense systems that grow alongside cloud adoption. Integrating Zscaler DSPM with Google Cloud fulfills this need through features like real-time discovery, context-rich analytics, and risk remediation—all within a unified platform that adapts to your business evolution rather than restricting it.Ready to take the first step toward stronger data security? Experience firsthand how our agentless Zscaler DSPM + Unified Data Security platform provides best-in-class data security for your entire environment—including web, endpoints, public clouds, and more by requesting a demo today.Sources:Forbes, Dark Data: The Cloud’s Unknown Security And Privacy Risk, January 3, 2022.Cybersecurity Insider, 95% of Cybersecurity Pros Demand Unified Cloud Security Platforms—Here’s Why, April 8, 2025.  

​[#item_full_content] The Need for Unified Data Security in the AI and Cloud EraAs organizations continue embracing cloud data and AI technologies across multiple public clouds, Google Cloud remains a popular choice due to its rich ecosystem of analytics tools and business applications. However, the flexibility that makes Google Cloud attractive—such as seamless data movement and simplified permission management—also introduces notable security challenges. The unrestricted flow of sensitive data between data stores and cloud service providers can create vulnerabilities that are difficult to address effectively. Without comprehensive security, organizations risk exposing critical data to security breaches or violating compliance regulations. Mitigating these risks requires adopting a proactive approach to managing data visibility and implementing sophisticated security frameworks tailored to the Google Cloud distinct architecture. Businesses must balance leveraging Google Cloud’s convenience while proactively addressing its inherent security concerns.Many security teams respond to security challenges by adding separate tools for each emerging threat, but this fragmented approach inevitably creates risks like:Siloed visibility across data stores, SaaS apps, and cloud services, which makes it difficult to see where sensitive information actually residesPolicy sprawl leading to contradictory controls that leave gaps attackers can exploitManual triage overwhelming teams who must stitch together alerts from dozens of consolesConcerns over these challenges are widespread—the 2024 Cloud Security Report by Cybersecurity Insiders revealed that 96% of security professionals say they’re worried about public cloud security. To break the cycle, businesses are turning to data‑centric offerings that combine contextual understanding with automated enforcement. One powerful example is the combination of Zscaler Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) and Google Cloud security services, which work together seamlessly to improve security and control without adding complexity. Understanding Zscaler DSPM and its Data Security SuperpowersSecurity teams can now use Zscaler DSPM to address data security in Google Cloud in a holistic manner, addressing all key use cases: data discovery, data classification, data access governance, data risk detection, and compliance.Zscaler DSPM safeguards data wherever it lives—whether that’s in Google Cloud storage buckets, third‑party SaaS repositories, or on‑prem databases headed to the cloud. It discovers sensitive data, classifies it, tracks exposure, and correlates misconfigurations and vulnerabilities to prevent and remediate cloud data breaches at scale. It effectively closes gaps that network‑centric and agent‑based tools might miss.Capabilities that make this possible include:Public Exposure Mapping: DSPM scans your google cloud projects and detects publicly exposed resources so your teams can eliminate accidental sharing before it becomes a headline.Vulnerability and Malware Scanning: Zscaler DSPM scans to detect vulnerable packages and applications deployed in Google Cloud, pinpointing attack vectors that might otherwise go unnoticed. Additionally, it identifies malware-infected files within your cloud storage.Risk Analysis: Zscaler DSPM explores your cloud, testing it for hundreds of multi dimensional attack vectors revealing your risks, providing priority to correcting the issues based on risk likelihood and impacted data, and guiding you through the remediation flow.Data Store Visualization: DSPM creates a data inventory graph for Google Cloud data stores, providing visibility into cloud storage buckets, Cloud SQL instances (supporting SQL, MySQL and PostgreSQL), and Google Compute Engines with their associated disks that contain sensitive data.Compliance Management: Zscaler DSPM continuously monitors your Google Cloud environment for violations against standards like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and NIST. It streamlines audit readiness with clear, actionable reports and simplifies cross-team compliance efforts.Org‑level Risk and Trend Reporting: Zscaler tracks your risk from the data store level to the Org level, making it simple to identify the state of the security management journeyGranular Policy Enforcement: DSPM allows complete customization and enforcement of any policy, adjusting and tailoring the policies as per the organization requirement, building it from scratch with easy-to-use graphic interface. How Zscaler DSPM Revolutionizes Data SecurityGoogle Cloud provides robust native services—such as Cloud Asset Inventory, Cloud Data Loss Prevention, and Google Security Operations—that help organizations discover and govern data. Still, to protect against sophisticated threats, businesses need advanced, specialized solutions. Combining Zscaler DSPM with Google Cloud delivers measurable security improvements by helping businesses:Discover and Classify Data Zscaler DSPM scans and discovers data across your entire environment, including Google Cloud and other cloud services. It automatically scans onboarded Google Cloud projects (accounts) to provide security teams with up to date state of all the cloud data assets, associated risk posture. With an intelligent approach to scans that monitors and tracks incremental changes, Zscaler DSPM minimizes the scan workload in cloud environments, thereby improving scan times. With AI-powered data classification, security teams can accurately classify unstructured (Google Cloud Bucket and Compute Engines Disks) as well as structured data (Cloud SQL) residing in Google Cloud and then categorize it based on predefined or custom policies. AI-based data classification provides visibility into cloud data sprawl, revealing sensitive information even in unexpected locations within the Google Cloud environment.Track Data Exposure and MisconfigurationsBy continuously monitoring and analyzing the risk posture, Zscaler DSPM helps security teams to understand which critical data assets are actually at risk and prioritize risk remediation efforts in fixing issues.. This capability also helps identify hidden risks such as misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and vulnerabilities in Google Cloud services so security teams can better understand the potential blast radius of compromised assets before any threats materialize.Enforce Granular Access Policies with Data Access GovernanceZscaler DSPM continuously monitors and analyzes all Google Cloud users, their roles, the access policies and policy statements as well as resource level allow/block permissions to give security teams a clear view of the resulting access grants and privileges available for various users across the cloud data assets. Security teams can easily identify which sensitive Google Cloud data stores have users with excessive privileges. This insight can be used to tweak the access policies to enforce least privilege across all critical data assets.Enforce Consistent Policies Zscaler DSPM leverages a centralized policy engine to apply security standards uniformly across your multicloud environment, eliminating protection gaps that can occur among different cloud platforms. It also automatically extends to new workloads, allowing teams to innovate without compromising security.Maintain Continuous Compliance with Simplified OperationsZscaler DSPM continuously maps your Google Cloud posture against regulatory benchmarks to identify and remediate compliance violations tied to GDPR, HIPAA, NIST, PCI DSS and more. The compliance dashboard simplifies security collaboration among cross-functional teams working with Google Cloud resources, making it easier to control violations and streamline audits.Secure AI Usage and Innovations AI workloads rely on massive volumes of data, often sensitive, proprietary, or regulated. DSPM helps security teams automate data governance without slowing innovation. It helps to get comprehensive visibility and control over the data used by AI services. It can discover, classify, and ensure regulatory standards alignment for data used in AI training pipelines by applying effective controls. It also prevents data oversharing by identifying outdated or non-compliant datasets. This can flag alerts and pinpoint risks such as unauthorized access, policy violations, or data drift securing and governing the data that powers AI systems. Building a Future-ready Data Security StrategyModern enterprises need data-centric defense systems that grow alongside cloud adoption. Integrating Zscaler DSPM with Google Cloud fulfills this need through features like real-time discovery, context-rich analytics, and risk remediation—all within a unified platform that adapts to your business evolution rather than restricting it.Ready to take the first step toward stronger data security? Experience firsthand how our agentless Zscaler DSPM + Unified Data Security platform provides best-in-class data security for your entire environment—including web, endpoints, public clouds, and more by requesting a demo today.Sources:Forbes, Dark Data: The Cloud’s Unknown Security And Privacy Risk, January 3, 2022.Cybersecurity Insider, 95% of Cybersecurity Pros Demand Unified Cloud Security Platforms—Here’s Why, April 8, 2025.