System and method for automatic data protection in a computer network

A system for protecting data items in an organizational computer network, comprising:

• a protection management server for recording information profiles;
• an administration console for defining rules for protecting data items belonging to a specific profile;
• an agent application for installing on endpoints to enforce data protection;
• wherein said agent application is adapted to classify the data items to a specific information profile upon their creation or change;
• wherein said agent is adapted to automatically enforce a protection method on the data item according to the defined rules that apply based on the profile classification that is applied to the data item;
• and
• wherein said agent is adapted to update the enforced protection method applied to the data item throughout the lifecycle of the data item responsive to a change in classification or location of the data item, according to said rules.