Forcepoint DLP suits large enterprises that want one long-established vendor for network, endpoint, email, cloud and discovery DLP, often alongside Forcepoint's wider network security stack. Tracemark suits organisations that want endpoint-first DLP, data discovery, AI controls and endpoint management from one agent and one self-hosted console, without an appliance per channel. This article sets the two side by side and says where Forcepoint is the stronger choice.
What does each product cover?
Forcepoint's public documentation describes a DLP suite built from modules: an endpoint agent for Windows and macOS, a network component (the Protector appliance) for web and email traffic, a discovery component for data at rest, and cloud application coverage through Forcepoint's CASB and the Forcepoint ONE platform. The endpoint module covers removable media, printing, clipboard, screen capture, application file access, web and email. Forcepoint also offers Risk-Adaptive Protection, which adjusts enforcement by user risk, and a separate DSPM product. Check with the vendor for the current module and licence split.
Tracemark covers the clipboard, file copies to USB, network shares and cloud-sync folders, print, email in Outlook, Outlook on the web and at an SMTP gateway, browser uploads in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, AI prompts and uploads, WhatsApp Web and Telegram Web, screenshots and screen recording, and outbound traffic through an ICAP sensor. Discovery reaches Windows, macOS and Linux endpoints, file shares, SharePoint and OneDrive, S3, Azure Blob and Google Cloud Storage, Box, Dropbox and Google Drive, and PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQL Server. The same console carries insider risk, device, application and browser control, and endpoint management.
How does detection compare?
Both products read content rather than file names. Forcepoint's public documentation describes a large library of predefined classifiers and regulatory templates covering many countries, PreciseID fingerprinting of documents and structured records, OCR of images, machine-learning classifiers, and Drip DLP for slow leaks. For organisations that need ready-made policies across many jurisdictions, that library is a real advantage.
Tracemark ships a detector catalogue covering payment cards, bank accounts, secrets and keys, and national IDs by country, and shows each detector's measured precision from reviewed findings. Weak signals such as a 16-digit number need nearby keywords or structure before they count. On top sit custom keyword and regex categories, exact data match from CSV records stored as hashes, registered documents matched by the share present, trained classifiers built from positive and negative examples, OCR of screenshots and scanned PDFs, cumulative drip DLP, and prebuilt content types such as contracts. Regulatory packs cover GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001 and Azerbaijan's Personal Data Law. Forcepoint's template library reaches more regions.
How are they deployed?
Forcepoint's public documentation describes an on-premises management server on Windows Server with a Microsoft SQL Server database, the Protector as a physical or virtual appliance, separately distributed endpoint agents, and cloud-delivered management through Forcepoint ONE as an alternative. A full deployment has several moving parts, which is normal for a product aimed at large estates.
Tracemark is one server in your own infrastructure, one agent per endpoint, a browser extension and an Outlook add-in. The console hands out an MSI for GPO, SCCM or Intune, Linux and macOS packages, and the add-in manifest. Detection runs on the device, so content does not leave it, and the agent keeps enforcing from a cached policy while offline. The network sensor is optional.
Where is Forcepoint the better choice?
Forcepoint has sold DLP under its own name, and before that as Websense, for many years, and it appears on large-enterprise shortlists for a reason. Its network appliances inspect traffic at the perimeter for devices that carry no agent. Its CASB and secure web gateway, delivered through Forcepoint ONE, give one vendor for inline cloud control and web filtering, which Tracemark does not offer. Its template library spans more countries. Its partner network and references in regulated global enterprises are deeper than a younger product can claim. If you need one vendor across SASE, DLP and insider threat with global support contracts, Forcepoint is the safer choice.
Where does Tracemark fit better?
Tracemark's scope is wider on the endpoint. AI security goes beyond web DLP: shadow-AI discovery, an inventory of coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, control of which MCP servers they may load, prompt and file-read scanning, and a firewall block on AI provider APIs that browser guards cannot see. Insider risk includes peer-relative scoring, risk-adaptive tightening of DLP, Camera Guard detection of a phone raised at the screen, screenshot and recording blocks, and investigation cases with tamper-proof records. DSPM adds data owners who review access and request fixes a second administrator approves, a 0 to 100 risk score, and quarantine that holds files rather than deleting them. Device, application and browser control, patching and software deployment share the console, so a team that would otherwise buy three or four tools buys one. The capabilities above belong to Tracemark Data Loss Prevention, AI Security and Insider Risk.
Which fits a 200-seat company?
A 200-seat company usually has one or two people for security and IT together. Tracemark's one-step rules, audit-first rollout that switches to enforcement after a set number of days, 30-day policy simulation, and the Needs attention checklist that measures gaps from recorded data are built for that team. One server and one agent keep the operating cost in hours low.
Forcepoint at that size depends on how much of the suite you buy. The endpoint module alone is a reasonable fit; the full stack with appliances and SQL Server is sized for larger estates. Check with the vendor for minimum seat counts and which modules are licensed alone.
| Capability area | Tracemark | Forcepoint |
|---|---|---|
| Endpoint platforms | Windows; macOS and Linux clipboard and discovery | Windows and macOS; Linux: check with the vendor |
| Network DLP | ICAP sensor on your proxy | Protector appliance |
| Email DLP | Outlook add-in, web mail, SMTP gateway | Endpoint, Protector, Forcepoint Email Security |
| Cloud and CASB | Discovery connectors only | CASB and SWG via Forcepoint ONE |
| Detection | Catalogue, regex, EDM, registered documents, trained classifiers, OCR, drip | Predefined classifiers, PreciseID, ML, OCR, Drip DLP |
| Regulatory templates | GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, Azerbaijan | Large multi-country library |
| AI tool controls | Browser AI-DLP, shadow-AI inventory, coding-agent and MCP policy, API block | AI sites via web DLP; agents: check with the vendor |
| Insider risk | Peer scoring, risk-adaptive DLP, Camera Guard, cases | Risk-Adaptive Protection, behavioural analytics |
| DSPM | Endpoints, shares, M365, three clouds, three SaaS drives, three databases | Discover module plus separate DSPM product |
| Management | One self-hosted server | Windows Server and SQL Server, or Forcepoint ONE |
| Endpoint management | Device, app, browser control, patching, deployment | Separate products |
| Enterprise references | Younger, fewer references | Long-established, widely referenced |
Frequently asked questions
Is Tracemark a direct replacement for Forcepoint DLP?
For endpoint, email, discovery and AI channels, yes. It does not replace Forcepoint's CASB or secure web gateway. If you rely on those, keep them or plan a separate replacement.
Can Tracemark read Microsoft Purview labels like Forcepoint can?
Yes. Purview labels are read through Microsoft Graph, imported as Tracemark labels, read on files during discovery, and written on send from Outlook. Forcepoint's public documentation also describes Purview label support; check the vendor for the current scope.
Does either product send file content to the cloud for inspection?
Tracemark inspects on the device and on your own server; only decisions and the evidence you choose to keep are stored. Forcepoint offers on-premises and cloud-delivered management through Forcepoint ONE, so where inspection happens depends on which you choose.
Which one is easier to run offline?
Tracemark caches the full policy on the endpoint and queues events on disk until the device reconnects. Forcepoint's public documentation describes offline enforcement on its endpoint agent too; check the vendor for which channels and policy elements apply offline.