As the value of information collected, organized, manipulated, and analyzed grows, the threats related to that data also increases. Any organization with sensitive personal or financial data represents a potential risk target. Authorized insiders also contribute to data breaches by either intentionally taking data or recklessly releasing data. No matter how the data is lost or exposed, it is costly for an organization. In response to a research survey, almost half of the companies, of all sizes, reported that the "total" impact of financial loss per event was over $100,000, while 8.5% of the companies reported financial loss of over $1 million. Organizations have been investing some percent of money to improve their data loss prevention. While many organizations have spent a lot of time and effort moving toward the very worthwhile goal of implementing content-filtering technology, such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP), the truth is a lot of fundamental groundwork needs to be done first before an organization should even think of DLP. To create this foundation for our comprehensive data protection strategy, we need to consider: encrypting data on endpoints and removable devices, controlling device and port usage, implementing attribute-based filtering, and auditing data transfers. This paper discusses the various growing threat scenarios and how enterprises must adopt security best practices that bring together both data leak prevention/protection (DLP) and database security in order to protect data from both internal and external threats. © 2012 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved.