Entity Workflow

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Overview

This document explains the Entity module of LightBeam Spectra.

After reading this document, you will be able to:

• Navigate the Entity module to locate an Entity within the data sources.

• View Entity details such as:

• Attributes

• Data Sources

• Merged Entities

• Alerts & Policies.

• Locate an Entity at the Data Source level.

• View all entities through the Insights Page.

What are Entities?

LightBeam Spectra monitors a system for specific sensitive data elements, such as SSN, Name etc. These sensitive data elements are referred to as Attributes.

Depending on the context, LightBeam Spectra recognises these attributes, correlates them with data, and determines whose data it is. These are referred to as Entities.

Example: LightBeam Spectra may have found attributes such as Name and SSN for Alexander Joseph in a data source such as Google Drive.

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How to Use the Entity Module in LightBeam?

The Entity module in LightBeam Spectra can be used to locate any entity present in the data sources.

Follow these steps to locate an Entity through the Entity module:

1. Click on INSIGHTS on the top navigation bar.

2. Click on the Entities icon on the left sidebar menu.

3. Scroll through the list of entities until you locate the target entity. Click on the entity name.

Figure 1. Click on Insights then Entities

Example: To find out more about the entity John Sandra Russell, click on John Sandra Russell.

Figure 2. Select Entity

In the Overview section, you can view information about the Entity such as:

• Number of attributes: Displays the number of attributes linked to the entity.

• Number of data sources: Displays the number of data sources in which the entity is found.

• Policy violations: Displays the number of policies violated by the entity.

• Attribute instance distribution: Displays the number of times attributes have occurred in the data source.

• Alerts: Displays the alerts triggered whenever a data privacy violation has occurred.

Figure 3. Entity Details

1. To view the attributes of the Entity, click on Attributes.

This will show a grid-view of all the attributes.

Example: The entity John Sandra Russell has 11 attributes:

1. Birth Date

2. Email Address

3. First Name

4. Last Name

5. Middle Name

6. Name

7. Phone Number

8. Postal/ Zip Code

9. Street Name

10. US Driver License

11. USA Social Security Number

Figure 4. Entity Attributes

To view the attributes of the Entity in a list view, click on the List View icon.

Figure 4.1 Entity Attributes List View

1. To display which data sources contain the Entity, click on Data sources.

Example: The entity Alexander Joseph is present in 3 data sources:

1. PostgreSQL

2. Outlook

3. Sharepoint

You can also view the number of attribute instances in each data source in the ‘# of Attributes Instances’ column and the number of objects that contain the Entity in ‘# of Objects’ columns.

Example: PostgreSQL data source contains 88 attribute instances of the entity John Sandra Russell while the number of objects that contain the entity John Sandra Russell is 2.

Figure 5. Entity Data Sources

LightBeam Spectra merges all instances of the entity in various forms into one entity by mapping each entity instance to an attribute type consisting of a distinctive identifier. These instances are listed under Merged Entities with their Attributes and Identifiers under the labeled columns.

In Fig 6., you will be able to observe the No. of Attributes linked to the entity and No. of Entities i.e. entity instances, under their respective sections.

Example: For the entity John Sandra Russell, LightBeam Spectra has merged 10 entity instances based on the unique identifiers present in the 11 attributes linked to the entity John Sandra Russell.

As seen in Fig 6 and Fig 6.1 these 7 unique attributes are:

1. First Name: John

2. Last Name: Russell

3. Middle Name: Sandra

4. Street Name: Johnson Harbor

5. Postal/Zip Code: 31229

6. Email Address: [e-mail]

7. Phone Number: 741-835-6881

8. USA Social Security Number (SSN): 691-89-8463

9. Birth Date: 1934-09-25

10. US Driver License: 55088658

11. Name: John Sandra Russell

Figure 6. Merged Entities

Figure 6.1 Merged Entities

LightBeam Spectra will scan through the selected data source(s) and raise an alert each time there is an instance of data violation.

Alerts and Policies displays the policies that are violated by the Entity and enlists the alerts triggered by them that put the Entity at risk. Each entity that has triggered an alert will have an ‘At Risk’ next to its name.

You can view the number of objects impacted by the entity under Objects Impacted.

Assignee label shows the details of who will receive alerts. Last Occurred displays the details of when the alert was triggered.

Example: The entity John Sandra Russell is under risk for violating the following policy:

Policy Name: Discovery & Classification: Detection rule entity based-lb-sharepoint

Objects impacted: 11

Assignee: [e-mail]

Last occurred: May 14, 2024

Figure 7. Alerts & Policies

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Locating an Entity at the Data Source-level

LightBeam Spectra allows users to locate an entity at the Data Source-level.

Click on DATASOURCES on the top navigation bar and select the name of the Data Source that contains the Entity.

Figure 8. Locating Entity at Data Source-level

Click on the Entities icon on the left sidebar menu.

Figure 8.1 Locating Entity through Data Source

Scroll until you find the name of the Entity and click on it.

Figure 8.2 Locating Entity through Data Source

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Viewing All Entities on Insights Page

To view all the entities in the data sources, user can utilize the Insights page.

1. Click on INSIGHTS on the top navigation bar.

2. Click on the Entities icon on the left sidebar menu.

Fig 9 View Entities on Insight page

Entity CSV Reports

Entity CSV Reports provide an organized view of all detected entities within monitored data sources. The export feature allows users to easily download and review sensitive data associated with these entities, supporting effective data management and risk assessment.

Exporting Entity Data as CSV

To export the list of entities to a CSV file:

1. Click on the Export CSV Button: On the top-right corner of the Entities table, click the blue "Export CSV" button.

Fig 10 Click on Export CSV Button

1. Download Notification: After clicking, a "Successful Download" banner will appear.

Fig 11 Succesful Download Notification

1. Access the Notification: Click on the notification icon in the top-right corner. Within a few minutes, the report will be ready for download, and you will be notified both on LightBeam and via email.

Fig 12.1 Access Notifications

Fig 12.2 Check Notification

1. Download the Report: Click the blue "Download" button to save the report.

Fig 13 Download Report

Opening and Reviewing the CSV Report

The report will be downloaded as an Excel file named "LB Entity List (DATE) at (TIME)" in your Downloads folder.

Fig 14 Downloaded Excel File

This file contains three columns:

1. Entity Name: Names of entities such as "Ricky Allen".

2. Attributes: A JSON format list showing the attributes found, such as:

{"name": "US Driver License", "values": ["*******"]}
{"name": "Birth Date", "values": ["00-22-2016"]}
{"name": "Gender", "values": ["M"]}

1. Datasources Names: The names of the data sources where these entities were found, e.g., ["google-drive"].

Fig 15 Data as shown on Excel

About LightBeam

LightBeam automates Privacy, Security, and AI Governance, so businesses can accelerate their growth in new markets. Leveraging generative AI, LightBeam has rapidly gained customers’ trust by pioneering a unique privacy-centric and automation-first approach to security. Unlike siloed solutions, LightBeam ties together sensitive data cataloging, control, and compliance across structured and unstructured data applications providing 360-visibility, redaction, self-service DSRs, and automated ROPA reporting ensuring ultimate protection against ransomware and accidental exposures while meeting data privacy obligations efficiently. LightBeam is on a mission to create a secure privacy-first world helping customers automate compliance against a patchwork of existing and emerging regulations.

For any questions or suggestions, please get in touch with us at: [e-mail]