Why is it worth watching? Vericept was one of the earliest entrants into the DLP space. The combination of data discovery and content analysis positions it well for large enterprises.

Vericept has a programmable content detection and analysis engine that adapts to an organization's specific content requirements, which is critical for detecting unstructured data such as IP. The analysis engine can also look for patterns or broader concepts that may be markers of sensitive data, rather than simply searching for specific data matches.

Where did the company get its name? The name Vericept is intended to indicate that the company's products intercept information, perform content analysis, and verify that what is confidential stays that way.

Who's using it? 750 organizations worldwide, including Walgreen, Anadarko Petroleum, Inova Health System, LifeSpan and Baker Hughes.

5. Verdasys

Founded: 2003

Headquarters: Waltham, Massachusetts

CEO and background: Seth Birnbaum previously co-founded NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, a privately held biotechnology company, and served as its vice president of engineering.

Funding: Verdasys has not sought venture capital backing, with funding instead coming from company officers and private investors. According to Verdasys, the company is profitable and able to reinvest based on current sales.

What does the company offer? Data security platforms that protect against data loss through integrated file encryption, e-mail encryption, data discovery, forensic reporting, offline data protection and network access control.

Why is it worth watching? Verdasys takes an endpoint-based approach to the data-loss problem. Agents reside mainly on desktops and laptops, but in the more recent versions of the product, Digital Guardian, they can also protect applications and servers.

Verdasys argues that its end-point based focus has advantages over network-based control, which has its roots in the old firewall, `you're-in-or-you're-out' approach to security. An endpoint approach, in contrast, shifts the focus to where information is actually created, altered and moved -- desktops, laptops and other end devices.

Verdasys Digital Guardian discovers, classifies and monitors data use on endpoints, preventing misuse by alerting users to policy violations or blocking high-risk activities while also creating audit trails and triggering alarms when necessary.

Where did the company get its name? Tomas Revesz, executive vice president of customer service, prevented a data-loss incident at NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, so when the time came to name the new DLP start-up, the founders gave the job to him. A native of Mexico City, Revesz wanted a name that meant "truth in systems," so he blended the Spanish word Verdad, which translates to "truth," with "systems" and arrived at Verdasys.

Who's using it? Verdasys has more than 100 customers, including Cigna, Humana, Convergys, Broadcom, DuPont, Genzyme, OKI Electronics, Tomin Bank and TD Ameritrade.