Lynne Murray | Director of Product Marketing for Data Security
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Lynne Murray | Director of Product Marketing for Data Security
More About This Author >
Data has always been the backbone of enterprise operations, but the rise of cloud, big data, and GenAI has multiplied its value and, with it, the motivation for attackers. In parallel, regulatory expectations are increasing and evolving. The result is a fragmented security landscape where different tools protect different “data entry points” (databases, SaaS, endpoints, identities, access permissions, and more), often deployed at various times and with inconsistent context and policy enforcement.
Frost & Sullivan’s perspective is clear: data protection must be approached through a data lifecycle lens, where visibility, governance, security, and compliance are applied continuously as data changes type and state.
That is the strategic imperative behind the modern Data Security Platform (DSP) category, and it is why Thales latest recognition matters.
In the Frost Radar™: Data Security Platforms benchmarking, Frost & Sullivan shortlisted 11 vendors and evaluated them across 10 Growth and Innovation criteria. The outcome?
Thales is recognized as the leader in the Growth Index and ranks second in the Innovation Index.
Per the report analysts: “Thales is the Growth Index leader on the Frost Radar™ thanks to its unmatched global footprint, diversified customer base, extensive channel ecosystem, and a growth rate that remains largely in line with the overall market’s.”
Frost & Sullivan further attributes this leadership to Thales’ extensive channel ecosystem and market-aligned growth rate.
The DSP imperative: one platform across the data lifecycle
Frost & Sullivan argues that the “DSP” lens helps organizations move beyond acronym-driven point solutions and instead prioritize underlying capabilities tied together by a centralized policy and intelligence engine, enabling the controls to remain consistent across environments and data states.
From this lifecycle-centric view, the ideal DSP delivers core capabilities spanning:
- Data discovery and classification across structured and unstructured data stores.
- Access and identity governance to reduce exposure created by entitlements, identities, and permissions.
- Data protection and control mechanisms (e.g., encryption, tokenisation, masking, policy enforcement).
- Real-time detection and response anchored in rich context and behavioral analytics.
- Compliance enforcement and posture management with continuous assessment as data changes.
- Extended protection for data used in AI systems, including visibility into models and monitoring for anomalous behavior.
Why Thales earned Growth Index leadership
Frost & Sullivan’s assessment highlights the primary Thales differentiator: bringing together two historically separate domains - deep encryption and key management, plus real-time visibility and analytics - into a cohesive DSP approach, so sensitive data remains protected even if perimeter- or identity-based defenses are bypassed.
1. A multilayered architecture anchored in Thales CipherTrust DSP and the Data Security Fabric
Frost & Sullivan describes Thales DSP architecture as anchored by Thales CipherTrust DSP for centralized management of discovery, classification, encryption, key management, and tokenization, and complemented by Data Security Fabric for real-time visibility and risk analytics. This approach delivers “full-spectrum” protection across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments.
2. Defense-in-depth at the data layer
A key Innovation differentiator Frost & Sullivan calls out is Thales operational model: even if visibility or governance layers fail, sensitive data remains protected through specialized encryption techniques—an explicit defense-in-depth stance anchored at the data layer.
The report also details Thales capabilities for securing data at rest through centralized encryption, masking, and tokenization supported by unified key management and techniques such as transparent encryption, application protection via SDK, and database column-level encryption.
3. Visibility, analytics, and response—built to reduce false positives
Frost & Sullivan notes that the Data Security Fabric improves detection by combining predetermined rules with rich context, including access patterns and risk profiles derived from application/database traffic, enabling more accurate anomaly detection and more precise blocking. It also supports responses via native actions and automated workflows, with broad integrations across SIEM, XDR, DLP, CNAPP, and ticketing systems, as well as a catalog of over 2,000 pre-built integrations.
4. GenAI and forward-looking roadmap investments
On AI, Frost & Sullivan highlights capabilities to inventory AI models, audit access patterns, and profile LLM behavior for anomalies, alongside additional protections for LLM use cases, including RAG paired with CipherTrust Transparent Encryption. The roadmap direction cited includes deeper DevSecOps integration, more GenAI use cases, and investments toward quantum-resistant encryption.
5. Scale advantages that translate to Growth Index performance
Frost & Sullivan links Thales Growth leadership to execution capacity: global delivery across sectors (including BFSI, manufacturing, retail/eCommerce), amplification from the Imperva acquisition, flexible and scalable pricing (including volume-based licensing), and a go-to-market model combining direct sales with a partner ecosystem of 6,700 technology, service provider, and OEM partners. The report also cites operational depth, including 11 SOCs globally and multilingual support teams.
What this recognition signals for security and business leaders
The DSP market is expanding quickly. Frost & Sullivan cites a 2025 revenue growth expectation of 29.0% and a 2025–2030 CAGR anticipated at 23.2%, driven by the need for enterprises to prioritize unified visibility, consistent controls, and compliance across increasingly complex data estates.
Thales’ placement - #1 in Growth Index and #2 in Innovation Index - is a strong validation of a pragmatic DSP vision: unify governance and intelligence with robust data-layer protection, and extend that model to modern realities like multi-cloud, unstructured data, and GenAI.
Download the full Frost Radar™: Data Security Platform, 2025 report today.