As an experienced IT professional, I understand the critical importance of protecting sensitive data in today’s increasingly complex digital landscape. In this comprehensive article, I will delve into the powerful capabilities of Microsoft Purview Information Protection, providing practical tips and in-depth insights to help you secure your Microsoft 365 environment.
Understanding Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Microsoft Purview Information Protection, formerly known as Microsoft Information Protection, is a robust set of tools and capabilities designed to assist organizations in discovering, classifying, and protecting sensitive data wherever it resides or travels. This comprehensive solution empowers IT professionals to take control of their data security, ensuring that valuable information is safeguarded against unauthorized access, accidental misuse, or malicious threats.
Discover Your Data Landscape
The first step in effective data protection is understanding your data landscape. Microsoft Purview Information Protection provides a range of capabilities to help you discover and identify sensitive data across your hybrid environment. From on-premises systems to cloud-based applications, the platform offers seamless visibility into the sensitive information within your organization.
One key feature is the Activity Explorer, which allows you to monitor and analyze user activities related to sensitive data. This powerful tool can help you detect anomalies, identify risky behaviors, and gain valuable insights into how your data is being accessed and used.
Protect Your Sensitive Data
Once you have a clear understanding of your data landscape, Microsoft Purview Information Protection offers a suite of protection actions to safeguard your sensitive information. These include encryption, access restrictions, and visual markings, all of which can be applied flexibly to meet your specific security requirements.
For example, you can implement data classification policies to automatically apply sensitivity labels to files and emails based on predefined criteria, such as the presence of specific keywords or the detection of personal information. These labels can then trigger various protection actions, ensuring that sensitive data is handled appropriately.
Prevent Data Oversharing
Inadvertent data oversharing is a common challenge in today’s collaborative work environments. Microsoft Purview Information Protection addresses this by providing capabilities to help prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive information.
One such feature is Conditional Access, which allows you to define policies that restrict access to sensitive data based on user location, device, or other contextual factors. This can help mitigate the risk of data exposure, even when users are working remotely or accessing information from untrusted devices.
Licensing and Requirements
The licensing requirements for protecting your sensitive data with Microsoft Purview Information Protection depend on the specific scenarios and features you plan to utilize. Rather than setting licensing requirements for each individual capability, it’s essential to refer to the Microsoft 365 guidance for security & compliance and the related PDF download for detailed feature-level licensing requirements.
It’s worth noting that customers currently licensed with Enterprise Mobility Security + Office E3, Microsoft 365 E3, or a version of these suites that does not include Microsoft Teams, are eligible to purchase or try E5 Compliance. This provides access to the full suite of Microsoft Purview Information Protection capabilities.
Securing Your Microsoft 365 Environment
To help you implement a comprehensive security strategy for your Microsoft 365 environment, I’ll share a range of best practices and recommendations based on the Microsoft Purview concept of layered defense-in-depth.
Network Security Considerations
Ensuring the proper network security configuration is crucial for protecting your Microsoft Purview Information Protection environment. Consider the following recommendations:
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Utilize Private Link Service: If you need to access Microsoft Purview from within your private network, it’s recommended to use Azure Private Link Service to establish a secure, private connection to the Microsoft Purview governance portal, endpoints, and data sources.
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Restrict Public Access: You can disable Microsoft Purview public access to completely cut off access to the Microsoft Purview account from the public internet. In this case, ensure that you have the necessary requirements, such as using a self-hosted integration runtime for data source scanning.
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Leverage Network Security Groups: Apply network security group (NSG) rules to filter network traffic to and from Azure resources, including private endpoints, self-hosted integration runtime VMs, and data sources. This helps to control and secure the communication channels.
Identity and Access Management
Effective identity and access management is the foundation of a robust security strategy. When it comes to Microsoft Purview, consider the following best practices:
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Implement Least Privilege Access: Assign control plane and data plane roles to users, security groups, and service principals based on the principle of least privilege. Carefully manage access to Microsoft Purview collections to ensure that users only have the minimum necessary permissions to perform their tasks.
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Enforce Multifactor Authentication: Require multifactor authentication for all privileged accounts with modify access within your Microsoft Purview instances, such as Collection Admins and Data Curators. This additional layer of security can help prevent unauthorized access.
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Secure Privileged Accounts: Minimize the number of users with write access to your Microsoft Purview instance, and keep the number of collection admins and data curator roles to a minimum at the root collection level.
Data Protection and Encryption
Microsoft Purview provides robust data protection and encryption capabilities to safeguard your sensitive information:
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Encryption in Transit: Microsoft Purview secures data in transit using Transport Layer Security (TLS) v1.2 or greater, ensuring that data is encrypted as it moves from one location to another.
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Encryption at Rest: Data at rest in Microsoft Purview is encrypted using Microsoft-managed keys, providing an additional layer of protection against unauthorized access or modification.
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Managed Event Hubs: If you have configured optional managed Event Hubs for your Microsoft Purview account, it’s recommended to carefully review and remove any unnecessary distribution points to minimize potential data exposure.
Secure Data Source Integration
When integrating data sources with Microsoft Purview, consider the following best practices:
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Credential Management: Prioritize the use of managed identities when possible, as they provide a more secure way to authenticate with data sources. If using other credential options, ensure that they are securely stored and protected in an Azure Key Vault.
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Self-Hosted Integration Runtime: If you need to extract metadata from data sources with sensitive data that cannot leave the boundary of your on-premises network, it’s highly recommended to deploy the self-hosted integration runtime within your corporate network. This ensures that the data remains within your network, and only the metadata is sent to Microsoft Purview.
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Secure Runtime Deployment: Ensure that the deployment and management of self-hosted integration runtime VMs in Azure or your on-premises environment are properly secured, following best practices for Windows virtual machine security.
Integrating Microsoft Purview with Microsoft Defender for Cloud
To further enhance the security of your Microsoft 365 environment, the recent integration between Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Defender for Cloud can provide valuable insights and prioritized security recommendations.
By leveraging the sensitivity labels applied to your data assets and database columns in Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Defender for Cloud can identify and prioritize the protection of your most valuable and sensitive resources. This integration helps security teams gain a comprehensive understanding of their security posture and take targeted actions to mitigate risks.
Conclusion
Securing your Microsoft 365 environment with Microsoft Purview Information Protection policies is a crucial step in safeguarding your organization’s sensitive data. By leveraging the powerful discovery, classification, and protection capabilities of Microsoft Purview, you can gain visibility into your data landscape, apply flexible protection actions, and prevent accidental data oversharing.
By following the best practices and recommendations outlined in this article, you can effectively implement a layered defense-in-depth approach to enhance the security of your Microsoft 365 environment. Remember to regularly review and update your policies to stay ahead of evolving threats and ensure the continuous protection of your organization’s critical information assets.
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