Symantec has unveiled what it claims is the industry's first open data loss prevention platform.

The security giant said that Data Loss Prevention 10 (DLP 10) can be used to find and fix data loss problems as they arise.

"By opening our DLP platform, we give customers more choice and flexibility to better protect the sensitive information in their unique IT environments," said Francis deSouza, senior vice president of Symantec's Enterprise Security Group.

"We are a step closer to realising the vision of true information-centric security by extending content awareness into many layers of security."

The company said that DLP 10 will let companies put encryption and enterprise rights management on top of content, and integrate it with Symantec's own complementary solutions.

A FlexResponse feature will make it easy to add policy-based controls to files, while the openness of the system will allow users of third-party solutions, such as those by GigaTrust, Liquid Machines, Oracle and PGP Corporation, to apply granular protection to documents.

One such control could prohibit access to a single USB memory stick if its user attempts to download sensitive information, for example.

Support for web standards including XML add to the openness, according to Symantec, and DLP can send data to any application or reporting system.

DLP 10 is expected to be available in December.