NeuShield adds exfiltration protection to Data Sentinel

NeuShield has added Exfiltration Protection to its Data Sentinel product, aiming to stop data theft and ransomware attacks that rely on compromised user credentials.

The feature controls how protected files are accessed, rather than relying solely on whether a user appears authorised. It is designed to stop attackers using stolen or compromised credentials from reaching sensitive files through methods outside approved workflows.

Ransomware groups increasingly combine data theft with file encryption, increasing pressure on victims by threatening both operational disruption and exposure of confidential information. That trend has pushed security suppliers to look beyond perimeter and identity controls and focus more on how data can be reached and used after an account has been compromised.

Under NeuShield's approach, files remain available to employees through a secure Windows Explorer namespace. Attempts to access those files through command-line tools, scripts, remote sessions, malware, or ransomware are blocked, according to the company.

The design is intended to preserve normal day-to-day file access for staff while restricting routes commonly used by attackers and automated malicious software. Users can continue working in familiar Windows environments without changing ordinary file management practices, NeuShield said.

For deployment, Data Sentinel automatically creates a protected Data Vault within each user's Documents folder. Administrators can also use the NeuShield Management Portal to apply policies across endpoints, protect additional folders, and manage protected locations centrally.

The product is intended to sit alongside existing security tools rather than replace them. NeuShield said the new protection complements identity controls, endpoint security, backup tools, and existing anti-ransomware measures.

Yuen Pin Yeap, Chief Executive Officer of NeuShield, said the aim is to address a gap left by traditional access controls.

"Cybercriminals have become remarkably effective at exploiting legitimate credentials to move through an organization unnoticed," said Yuen Pin Yeap, Chief Executive Officer of NeuShield. "Traditional security determines whether someone is authorized to access data. Exfiltration Protection adds another layer by controlling the methods used to reach protected files. When malware or ransomware attempts to access those files outside approved workflows, the request is denied before data can be stolen or encrypted."

Partner perspective

NeuShield channel partner Disruptech, which serves more than 250 managed service providers across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, linked the new feature to broader customer concerns about data theft and operational disruption.

"Organisations continue investing in prevention and detection technologies, yet data theft remains one of the most damaging consequences of today's cyberattacks," said Angus Button, Co-Founder of Disruptech. "NeuShield gives our customers another practical layer of protection that works alongside their existing security investments while helping reduce the operational and financial risks associated with ransomware and data exfiltration."

Disruptech also described a customer case illustrating how NeuShield's technology is being positioned in the market. In that incident, a managed service provider had deployed NeuShield for an organisation concerned about ransomware while a new endpoint security tool was being rolled out.

According to company-provided background, the customer had mistakenly left endpoint protection in detect-only mode instead of prevent mode. The organisation was then hit by ransomware.

NeuShield said its technology restored data on infected user computers, as well as the system and data on an affected server, within a few hours. Disruptech estimated that rebuilding and restoring those systems without NeuShield would have taken at least three days.

The example reflects a broader shift in cybersecurity spending, as buyers seek layers that still function after a preventive control fails. Rather than relying on a single line of defence to stop every intrusion, suppliers are increasingly positioning products to limit damage once an attacker is already inside a network or using a legitimate account.

NeuShield's new feature extends that argument from recovery into prevention at the file-access level. By restricting the methods that can be used to reach sensitive files, the company aims to blunt both sides of a modern ransomware attack: data theft before encryption, and the encryption itself.

Exfiltration Protection is available immediately as part of Data Sentinel through NeuShield and its partners.