How sensitive data is processed by Zscaler’s EDM engine?

The processing of sensitive data by Zscaler’s Enterprise Data Management (EDM) engine involves a robust mechanism to ensure data security and compliance. Utilizing an on-premises virtual machine (VM) to index the data allows organizations to process sensitive information without exposing it directly to the cloud during the initial stages. This indexing step helps in creating hashes of the data, which are sent to the Zscaler cloud.

This approach mitigates the risk of transmitting sensitive information over the internet in an unprotected form, as hashes are more secure and do not reveal the actual content of the data. By handling data indexing on-premises first, organizations maintain control over their sensitive data while still benefiting from Zscaler's cloud-based security and analytics capabilities. This aligns with modern data governance and compliance requirements, where data sovereignty and privacy are critical concerns.

The other options presented do not reflect Zscaler’s approach to managing sensitive data effectively. Automated file transfer protocols may suggest a less secure method without the hashing process. Direct uploads to the cloud lack the initial safeguarding mechanism provided by local processing. Third-party encryption might not ensure comprehensive data handling within Zscaler's framework, which highlights the integrated nature of its EDM engine.