How to Protect Sensitive Information
Businesses today handle large amounts of sensitive information including financial records, customer information and intellectual property. This information must be secured against unauthorized access so that customers can continue to trust the company with their data and also to ensure that the data is legally accessible in the event of a dispute, or regulatory action.
Unauthorized access to sensitive data could result in serious negative consequences for businesses, including lost sales, reputational damage and legal costs. Implementing a security plan that provides guidelines for safeguarding sensitive data can help businesses minimize the likelihood of cyber attacks and shield itself from legal risks.
Information protection is a broad class of software and procedures that aid businesses in keeping their sensitive data safe whether in the cloud or on a device such as laptops. It encompasses everything from guidelines that define what types of information are considered sensitive and how it’s accessed as well as the physical controls which must be in place, such as encryption or password protection, to the procedures which are in place to monitor access and detect possible threats and then respond to threats.
The Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) suite of services, also referred to as Azure Information Protection or Purview, allows for the discovery and classification of sensitive information in accordance with its sensitivity by using labeling. You can protect content no matter where it is stored or traveled, track who has accessed it and revoke access when needed. It is also possible to extend MIP into other apps and systems using the SDK which means that line-of-business applications can apply sensitive labels to documents as they export them, or design tools for CAD/CAM can use MIP to automatically encode files before they are saved to an appropriate folder.