The unauthorized movement of data out of an organization's systems, by an outside attacker or by someone already inside.
Data Exfiltration, also called data extrusion or data theft, is the unauthorized removal of data from an organization's computers and networks, carried out by an attacker or by malware working for one.
This can occur via targeted cyberattacks, social engineering, or even accidental leakage by employees using shadow IT (such as pasting proprietary code into public AI chatbots).
Preventing data exfiltration is one of the main reasons organizations adopt Private AI and enforce air-gapped environments, both of which keep intellectual property inside the corporate boundary.
See also Shadow IT, Private AI, Air-Gapped Environment, Role-Based Access Control and Zero Trust Architecture.