Cloud data protection startup Nightfall AI today announced new capabilities for its generative artificial intelligence data loss prevention platform.

The new features extend the service to cover software-as-a-service security posture management, data encryption, data exfiltration prevention and sensitive data protection. Essentially, they’re aimed at addressing the growing rate of data breaches.

Nightfall AI argues that legacy data security solutions are failing to keep up because they are complex, intrusive and not built for the modern enterprise, where data is shared across hundreds of distributed SaaS applications daily. The startup offers a DLP solution that leverages generative AI to prevent data leaks without disrupting modern workflows.

The new capabilities extend its service to provide insight into SaaS security posture, along with automated response capabilities that allow organizations to address security issues as they arise. The capabilities provide continuous visibility into key areas, such as sharing and permissions settings changes, allowing for swift adjustments to prevent drift and to maintain a secure SaaS environment. In-app engagement with end-users helps companies to build a human firewall, according to the company, reducing the likelihood of human error and enhancing overall security awareness.

Nightfall now offers client-side, content-aware encryption for SaaS apps, including Gmail, Google Drive, Microsoft Exchange, Salesforce Inc. and Zendesk Inc. Deployed through a browser plugin, employees can send emails with comprehensive protection controls like setting expiration and preventing forwarding and security teams can configure robust administrative policies to ensure compliance with local and international regulations. Those include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Data exfiltration prevention is also enhanced with the release. Night says the product’s risk-based adaptive approach allows security teams to discover, monitor and protect sensitive data continuously from being uploaded, downloaded or shared in email or removable media on SaaS apps and endpoints, replacing rules-based legacy solutions.

The updates deliver proactive SaaS and email monitoring and AI-powered data protection for personally identifiable information, protected health information, secrets and credentials to ensure compliance with leading industry frameworks. Using the service, the company says, security teams can monitor and control various aspects of data exposure and sharing within their environment, with actionable insights helping businesses remediate sensitive data without even having to leave the console.

Nightfall provides several options for inline action for email DLP, including scanning and attachment removal for Gmail and Microsoft Exchange. It also automatically redacts sensitive data in AI prompts and trains users with custom alerts so they learn best practices for data sharing.

“Nightfall’s industry-first GenAI detectors make the platform a smarter, more scalable way to protect sensitive data in the enterprise,” Isaac Madan, co-founder and chief executive officer, said ahead of the announcement. “With these new capabilities, companies can secure their data across every data plane, in real time.”

Nightfall AI is a venture capital-backed startup, having last raised $40 million in a Series B round in August 2022. Investors in the company include Bain Capital Ventures Partners LLC, Venrock Associates L.P., Pear Venture Partners LLC and several individual investors, including “Antman” actor Paul Rudd.

Photo: Nightfall AI