Post-access data security

Attackers don't break in. They log in.

An AI agent. A trusted insider. A ransomware attack. A phished password. A compromised vendor. Once authenticated, the data is theirs for the taking.

PostAuth enforces how a file can be used, even after access has been granted. Authentication was the boundary. With PostAuth, the file is.

Human or AI. Access is granted. Protection remains.

Protecting critical data for

  • Sargent & Lundy
  • Howmet Aerospace
  • ATS
  • Rathbone Group
  • DTC, a Codan company

Five threats. One gap.

Five threats. Five ways in.
One way past your current stack.

Someone or something gets valid access, and the files open.

62%

The human element is involved in 62% of breaches.2026 Verizon DBIR

  1. Ransomware

    02

    Attackers now steal your data before they encrypt it, so restoring from backup doesn't end the threat.

    Stolen copies stay encrypted under your policy.

    See How It Stops Ransomware
  2. Phishing

    03

    One convincing message is all it takes. The attacker logs in as your employee, and every control sees an employee.

    The files follow their own rules. The stolen login isn't enough.

    See How It Limits Phishing Damage
  3. Third-party risk

    04

    Your vendors, contractors, and partners hold your files, and you don't control their security.

    Your rules travelled with the file. The taken copy stays protected.

    See How It Secures Vendor Sharing
  4. Insider threat

    05

    A departing employee. An over-permissioned account. Someone who took far more than they should have. They're authorized, so nothing looks wrong.

    Use is set by the file's policy. Every access is recorded.

    See How It Limits Insider Risk

Valid login. Open file. The actor changes. The weakness doesn't.

Why the stack misses them

Every control worked.
The data still walked out.

It isn't that the controls failed. Each one answers a question about access, and all five threats above begin after that question has been answered.

  1. 01MFA / IAM

    What it answers: Who can access?

    What it leaves open: What happens to the file after access is granted?

  2. 02Zero Trust

    What it answers: Should access be granted?

    What it leaves open: What governs use after access?

  3. 03DLP

    What it answers: Is sensitive data leaving a policy boundary?

    What it leaves open: What protects the file when the activity looks normal?

  4. 04Encryption

    What it answers: Can protected data be read without the required key?

    What it leaves open: What governs the file once an authorized user unlocks it?

  5. 05EDR

    What it answers: Is the endpoint behaving suspiciously?

    What it leaves open: What protects the file when the endpoint and session look normal?

  6. 06Data-centric / DRM

    What it answers: Can this protected file be opened and controlled?

    What it leaves open: What protects the files outside that coverage of labels, applications, and deployment?

Six controls.
One gap.

MFA confirms the user, Zero Trust approves the request, DLP watches the boundary, encryption releases the key, and EDR clears the endpoint. Every check passes. Access and use are two different questions. Most of your stack answers the first. The controls that reach the second only work on what they can inspect, what's classified, and where applications cooperate. PostAuth protects the file itself, without making inspection, classification, or application support mandatory.

You can keep building, managing, and patching layers, and the gap remains. Start with the gap every breach shares.

See the Post-Authentication Gap

Incident analysis

These aren't hypotheticals.
Here's what they looked like.

Same attack, two endings. Every control performed exactly as designed. Only the data layer changes the outcome.

Select an attack method

The attack · AI

Hijacked AI agent tokens

Example incident: Salesloft Drift

Every control said yes

  • The agent's OAuth tokens were valid
  • Every query was authorized
  • Bulk exports looked like normal integration traffic

Ending 1 · Without PostAuth

0% unusable

Stolen agent tokens pull data from hundreds of customer environments.

A trusted AI integration held standing access, so stolen tokens inherited all of it.

Ending 2 · With PostAuth

100% unusable

The agent's access stops at each file's policy.

The token still works. What it can do with each file is decided by that file.

The attack · Ransomware

Corporate network compromise

Example incident: Nike

Every control said yes

  • Authentication controls worked
  • Systems encrypted data at rest
  • Activity resembled legitimate file access

Ending 1 · Without PostAuth

0% unusable

Design files walk out readable and resellable.

Encryption at rest dissolved on login, so the files were readable the moment the session opened.

Ending 2 · With PostAuth

100% unusable

Every exported design file leaves as ciphertext.

Protection travels with the file, so the same session yields artifacts no one outside policy can open.

The attack · Phishing

MFA fatigue

Example incident: Uber

Every control said yes

  • MFA was satisfied
  • Zero Trust trusted the session
  • Endpoint tools saw no malware

Ending 1 · Without PostAuth

0% unusable

Internal files are readable inside the trusted session.

A satisfied MFA prompt handed over a trusted session, and nothing below it questioned the file access.

Ending 2 · With PostAuth

100% unusable

Access is evaluated file by file, every time.

The session is trusted. The file is not. Authorization is re-checked at the moment of use.

The attack · Ransomware

Unauthorized system access

Example incident: Conduent

Every control said yes

  • Authentication and internal access controls functioned
  • Data was encrypted at rest in storage
  • Bulk document exports were not prevented

Ending 1 · Without PostAuth

0% unusable

Bulk exports leave with usable customer records.

Authorized sessions decrypted files automatically, so volume was the only signal available.

Ending 2 · With PostAuth

100% unusable

Bulk exports leave as unreadable datasets.

Volume stops mattering. A million encrypted records are worth what one is: nothing.

The attack · Insider

Insider threat

Example incident: Waymo

Every control said yes

  • Authentication succeeded
  • The employee had legitimate access
  • Files were readable and exportable once opened

Ending 1 · Without PostAuth

0% unusable

An employee copies IP to a personal device.

No malware, no exploit, no policy violation. Legitimate access was the whole attack.

Ending 2 · With PostAuth

100% unusable

The copy exists and cannot be opened.

Legitimate access still opens the file at work. It does not travel off the approved device.

The attack · Third-party

Zero-day exploitation

Example incident: MOVEit Transfer

Every control said yes

  • Perimeter security and IAM worked
  • Files were encrypted at rest on the server
  • Files decrypted during transfer

Ending 1 · Without PostAuth

0% unusable

Mass transfer of readable files from a trusted platform.

Protection stopped at the platform boundary, and the transfer was where the files became readable.

Ending 2 · With PostAuth

100% unusable

The platform is compromised. The data is not.

Protection is a property of the file, not of the system holding it.

Replay your own incidentA 30-minute session against your own file estate.

Benefits

What changes when
the file is the boundary.

Average cost of a breach
$4.99MGlobal
$11.5MUnited States
Source: IBM, 2026
01

A return you can calculate.

PostAuth goes after the biggest driver of that cost: readable data in the wrong hands. Run the math with your own numbers: how likely a breach is, and what exposure would cost you. Then weigh how much of that cost protecting your files would remove against what PostAuth costs.

Calculate Your ROSI
02

One investment. Five threats covered.

  • AI agents
  • Ransomware
  • Phishing
  • Vendors
  • Insiders

AI agents, ransomware, phishing, vendors, and insiders all end the same way: an authenticated user holding a file. Protecting the file addresses that endpoint once, so a single investment works against all five instead of five separate answers to buy, deploy, and manage. It sits alongside your existing stack, so you're adding a layer, not starting a program.

03

Less to extort.

Files attackers can't read give them much less to threaten you with.

04

Safer sharing.

Send files to vendors, partners, and AI tools knowing your rules go with them.

05

Evidence you can show.

Persistent, file-level protection gives you something concrete to bring to your CMMC assessment, and to point to for HIPAA, GLBA, ISO, and NIST and in cyber insurance reviews.

See CMMC Compliance

How it works

How PostAuth
works.

  1. 01

    Protect the file.

    Persistent AES-256 encryption and policies you define, attached to the file itself. Protection doesn't wait for a label. Classification helps you decide where to focus first.

  2. 02

    Authorize every request.

    When a human, AI agent, application, or vendor asks to open the file, the file's policy decides whether they can, and how.

  3. 03

    Govern use everywhere.

    Access doesn't unlock the file for good. Its policies stay in force as it moves across environments, applications, and users.

The environment can change. The actor can change. The file remains governed.

See How PostAuth Works

Built around your environment

Plug in.
Don't rip out.

PADS deploys into your existing environment in hours. It sits above your stack, not inside it.

Value in days, not months.

Nothing to re-architect.

  • No re-architecture
  • No data migration
  • No IAM policy changes
  • No workflow disruption
Universal compatibility
The added layer

PostAuth PADS

Protection that stays with your data.

Identity

Identity providers

  • Okta
  • Azure AD (Entra ID)
  • Ping Identity

Storage

Cloud storage and SaaS

  • M365
  • SharePoint
  • OneDrive
  • Box
  • Dropbox

Files

Complex data types

  • Office documents
  • CAD
  • Engineering files

Native support for all files, including heavy CAD.

Deploy where you work
On-premise/In the cloud

Security that moves with your data, not against your users.

Post-access data security

Authentication gets them access. PostAuth keeps the file governed.

Human or AI. Access is granted. Protection remains.

Security credentials

  • SOC 2Compliance
  • HIPAAHealthcare data
  • Pen testedSecurity testing
  • FIPS 140-2Validated encryption