Tablus Inc., a vendor of content monitoring tools in San Mateo, Calif., and rival Palisade Systems Inc. in Ames, Iowa, have both released updated versions of their products with features designed to give companies better control over sensitive data such as personally identifiable information.

Tablus' new Content Sentinel tool, released Monday, offers a feature that allows businesses to scan all servers, desktops, storage devices, laptops and other client devices for the presence of sensitive data, according to CEO Jim Pante.

The tool allows administrators to enforce corporate policies on systems containing sensitive data, he said. Administrators can, for example, delete sensitive information from client systems or quarantine it by preventing the data from being accessed by the user, Pante said.

The new features build on network monitoring capabilities offered by previous Tablus products and makes Content Sentinel among the first in the industry to offer an integrated view of sensitive data, both on the network and at the client level, Pante said.

Palisade's latest PacketSure 4.2 product, which was launched last week, allows companies identify the source and the name of a user responsible for sending out sensitive data over a network, according to company CEO Kurt Shedenhelm.