Netwrix Data Classification: Discover, classify, and protect sensitive data

Q: What are the 4 types of data classification?

The four most common types of data classification include: Public – Information that can be shared freely without risk, such as your organization’s contact details or cookie policy. Internal – Information meant to be used internally but has low sensitivity, like business processes or general operational documentation. Confidential – Information requiring more protection, such as vendor contracts, competitor analysis, or employee performance reviews. Restricted/Highly Confidential – Highly sensitive data that could cause serious financial, operational, or legal harm if exposed, such as intellectual property, custom applications, or healthcare records.

Q: How is Netwrix Data Classification licensed?

Netwrix Data Classification is licensed on a subscription basis, per employee, and determined by the number of data sources classified.

Q: Do you use agents to collect data?

No. Netwrix Data Classification operates in agentless mode, so it does not interfere with your data storage system. All index and classification information is collected, analyzed, stored, and updated on a separate server.

Q: Can Netwrix Data Classification be integrated with DLP or IRM solutions?

Yes. The data classification solution from Netwrix embeds classification information right into the file, increasing the accuracy of data loss prevention (DLP) or information rights management (IRM) tools and optimizing your data security efforts. Also, Netwrix Data Classification can apply Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) labels to documents.

Q: What data sources does Netwrix Data Classification support?

Unknown block type "block", specify a component for it in the `components.types` option

Netwrix data classification combines sensitive data discovery with ROT data analysis so you can find what matters, understand the risk, and take action with confidence.

Read their Stories

Trusted by

Commonwealth of pennsylvania office of attorney general

Gloucestershire hospitals nhs foundation trust

A black background with a few white lines on it

Data classification

Find it. Classify it. Fix it.

Download the datasheet

Discover and classify sensitive data automatically

Continuously scan file systems, databases, email, and cloud repositories to identify sensitive and regulated data using predefined and custom taxonomies.

Reduce your attack surface with ROT data cleanup

Identify redundant, obsolete, and trivial data across your environment and take action to remove unnecessary exposure before it becomes a liability.

Assess and prioritize risk

Evaluate data based on sensitivity and exposure so your team knows where to focus remediation efforts first.

Remediate automatically

Move sensitive files to secure locations, remove excessive permissions, and redact confidential content without manual intervention.

Report on compliance with confidence

Generate reports aligned to GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS from a single platform, without hunting across systems at audit time.

See it in action

See how it works in under 2 minutes

See how Netwrix Data Classification automatically discovers and classifies sensitive data across file servers, SharePoint, databases, and the cloud — then remediates risk by removing excess permissions, relocating files, and clearing out redundant, obsolete, and trivial data

Capabilities

From detection to remediation in minutes

Only 43% of organizations have a continuously maintained inventory of where sensitive data resides (2026 Data and Identity Security Report). Data classification software that detects, classifies, and manages sensitive data with less effort across your entire IT infrastructure.

See where sensitive data lives

Know what's triggering your classifiers

Your data risk at a glance

Track classification activity in real time

See for yourself

Ready to get started?

All products

Security products for all your needs

Netwrix 1Secure for MSPs

Deliver smarter, unified data security for your clients with a DPSM tool built to reduce risk, boost margins, and scale with you.

Netwrix Access Analyzer (ex-StealthAUDIT)

Get enterprise-grade discovery, classification, and remediation with 40+ data collection modules covering on-prem and cloud-native platforms.

Netwrix Access Analyzer (ex-StealthAUDIT)

Get enterprise-grade discovery, classification, and remediation with 40+ data collection modules covering on-prem and cloud-native platforms.

Netwrix Auditor

Monitor user activity, spot threats early, and prove compliance with hard evidence before issues turn into incidents.

Netwrix Change Tracker (ex-NNT)

Shrink your attack surface, spot and fix breaches fast, and simplify audits with security configuration management and change control.

Netwrix Data Classification

Find and classify sensitive data across your environment to help simplify compliance and focus protection efforts where they matter most.

Netwrix Directory Manager (ex-GroupID)

Simplify group and user management in Active Directory and Entra ID for better security and less time spent on routine tasks.

Netwrix Directory Manager (ex-GroupID)

Simplify group and user management in Active Directory and Entra ID for better security and less time spent on routine tasks.

Netwrix Endpoint Protector (ex-CoSoSys): Endpoint DLP software and device control

Block unauthorized data transfers and exfiltration via USB, email, browsers, messaging apps, and other common outbound channels.

Netwrix Endpoint Protector (ex-CoSoSys): Endpoint DLP software and device control

Block unauthorized data transfers and exfiltration via USB, email, browsers, messaging apps, and other common outbound channels.

Netwrix Identity Manager

Automate, govern, and control enterprise identities with an IGA platform (formerly Usercube) that secures access, boosts productivity, and simplifies audits.

Netwrix Identity Recovery

Quickly recover Active Directory and Entra ID objects, attributes, or entire AD forest to restore operations quickly and reduce downtime.

Netwrix Password Policy Enforcer (ex-Anixis)

Enforce strong, custom password policies in Active Directory to block weak credentials and stop attackers from exploiting careless mistakes.

Netwrix Password Secure

Manage and secure user passwords across all devices with privileged credentials, control access, and auditing tools.

Netwrix PingCastle

Find and fix security gaps in your hybrid Active Directory setup to reduce risk and prevent breaches before the damage is done.

Netwrix PolicyPak

Manage and secure endpoints wherever users work with security settings, admin rights, and managed apps on Windows endpoints.

Netwrix Privilege Secure (ex-SBPAM, Remediant)

Remove standing privileged accounts and enforce least privilege for users and apps without slowing down work or disrupting access.

Netwrix Strongpoint

Take control of your ERP configurations with system documentation and continuous audits that reduce errors and strengthen security.

Netwrix Threat Manager

Detect and respond to abnormal behavior and advanced attacks fast with clear context and actionable next steps.

Netwrix Threat Prevention (ex-StealthINTERCEPT)

Get real-time alerts on risky activity, restrict access, and block threats before they escalate into full-blown security incidents.

Trusted by professionals

Don’t just take our word for it

Learn more

"Even if you enforce least privilege and trust your employees as much as we do, you still need to know exactly who did what, when and where… that is what Netwrix can tell me, and it is giving me peace of mind."

John Bayes

IT Director, Hull College

Learn more

"Our experience has been wonderful. We use it in conjunction with Netwrix Auditor. Data Classification has allowed us to gain valuable drive space back by showing us "old" files that no longer need to be accessed daily, as well as helping us identify folders that may contain patient info and therefore require an audit of the security applied to them."

Mike S.

System Engineer, Hospital & Health Care

Learn more

"Reporting for this tool is better than any other in the space in my opinion. Most PII scans are hard to read, this is not and it saves us time"

Systems Engineering Manager, IT Services

Learn more

"... We needed a simple way to identify and classify data. Netwrix Data Classification has all the basics that you need to identify where PCI/PII data is being stored in the environment. They have classification dictionaries for pretty much everything."

IT Manager, Insurance

See All Customer Stories

Integrations

Seamless integrations for smarter security

See All Integrations

A purple folder with a person icon on it

A black and white graphic of a staircase with a cross in the middle

Let’s talk security

Featured resources

Geek out with us

Resource center

eBook

AI regulatory readiness

Artificial Intelligence

On Demand Webinar

Discover & Secure Sensitive Data with Netwrix Data Classification

Karim Azzouzi

Data Access Governance

+2 topics

Data classification FAQs

Have questions? We’ve got answers.

What is data classification software?

Data classification solutions help organizations identify, classify, and protect sensitive and business-critical information by assigning labels based on data type and sensitivity. Organizations save time and costs by automating the data discovery and classification process across IT environments (including structured or unstructured, on-premises or in the cloud). Classification is also the foundation of data security posture management (DSPM), which adds continuous risk assessment and access analysis on top of it.

What are the 4 types of data classification?

The four most common types of data classification include:

Public – Information that can be shared freely without risk, such as your organization’s contact details or cookie policy.
Internal – Information meant to be used internally but has low sensitivity, like business processes or general operational documentation.
Confidential – Information requiring more protection, such as vendor contracts, competitor analysis, or employee performance reviews.
Restricted/Highly Confidential – Highly sensitive data that could cause serious financial, operational, or legal harm if exposed, such as intellectual property, custom applications, or healthcare records.

How is Netwrix Data Classification licensed?

Do you use agents to collect data?

How easy is the deployment and configuration process? How quickly will I start getting value?

It takes only a couple of hours to deploy Netwrix Data Classification. The time required for the initial classification depends on your data volume, connection speed, the classification mode you choose, server performance, and other factors. After that, new data will be indexed incrementally, which is faster.

The solution provides a wide set of predefined taxonomies that cover PII (GDPR), PHI (HIPAA), payment card data (PCI DSS), financial records, and other types of protected information, so you can quickly find sensitive and regulated data and implement required security controls.

Can Netwrix Data Classification be integrated with DLP or IRM solutions?

How do the files get classified?

Netwrix Data Classification doesn’t just match character strings and rely on keywords and regular expressions, unlike many other information classification tools. It also uses compound term processing and statistical analysis, which work in any language or vocabulary, regardless of grammatical style. The classification is performed by analyzing file content using rules defined in the taxonomies.

What data sources does Netwrix Data Classification support?

Netwrix Data Classification: Discover, classify, and protect sensitive data

Find it. Classify it. Fix it.

Discover and classify sensitive data automatically

Reduce your attack surface with ROT data cleanup

Assess and prioritize risk

Remediate automatically

Report on compliance with confidence

See how it works in under 2 minutes

Capabilities

From detection to remediation in minutes

Ready to get started?

All products

Security products for all your needs

Trusted by professionals

Don’t just take our word for it

Integrations

Seamless integrations for smarter security

Let’s talk security

Featured resources

Geek out with us

AI regulatory readiness

Discover & Secure Sensitive Data with Netwrix Data Classification

Data classification FAQs

Have questions? We’ve got answers.

See Data Classification in action