SecureSky Insights | Cloud Security Blog

Microsoft Purview: Unlocking Compliance, Protection, and AI-Aware Data Controls

Written by Corey Meyer | Aug 6, 2025

In today’s data-driven world, organizations are swimming in information—across clouds, apps, and platforms. Microsoft Purview offers a unified solution to help you discover, classify, protect, and govern that data, all while staying compliant with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.

What Is Microsoft Purview?

Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive data governance and compliance platform that helps organizations manage sensitive data across Microsoft 365, Azure, and even third-party environments. It combines tools for:

  • Data discovery and cataloging
  • Information protection / Information barriers
  • Data loss prevention (DLP)
  • Insider risk management
  • Communication compliance
  • Audit and eDiscovery

Why It Matters

Microsoft Purview helps you:

  • Locate and protect sensitive data
  • Prevent accidental leaks or insider threats
  • Ensure AI tools like Copilot or ChatGPT don’t access unauthorized content
  • Simplify audits and regulatory reporting

Real-World Example #1: Controlling Sensitive Data

A legal team working in Microsoft 365 regularly handles contracts, NDAs, and litigation documents. With Microsoft Purview, they can:

  • Auto-label legal documents as “Confidential – Legal” (labels can be tailored to match your internal taxonomy) based on keywords like “settlement,” “plaintiff,” or “non-disclosure”
  • Restrict access so only authorized legal personnel can view or edit files
  • Prevent uploads of sensitive legal files to personal cloud storage or external sharing platforms
  • Track unusual employee activity, such as mass downloads

Outcome: Sensitive files are automatically governed, potential data leaks are preemptively flagged, and the organization can maintain compliance with legal retention policies and minimize risk during audits or investigations.

Real-World Example #2: Data Discovery for Shadow IT and Compliance

An enterprise IT team suspects that sensitive data is being stored in unauthorized locations—like unmanaged SharePoint sites or personal OneDrives. Using Microsoft Purview’s Data Map and Data Catalog functions, they can:

  • Scan across hybrid environments (on-prem, cloud, SaaS) to locate all data assets—even those outside Microsoft 365
  • Automatically classify data using built-in and custom sensitivity labels (e.g., PII, financial records, health data)
  • Identify “dark data”—files that are unused, unclassified, or stored in risky locations
  • Generate reports to support remediation, policy enforcement, and compliance audits

Outcome: This use case helps organizations reduce risk, improve visibility, and prepare for AI integration by ensuring that only trusted, well-governed data is used across the business.

Real-World Example #3: Preventing Unauthorized AI Access to Sensitive Data

A marketing team is experimenting with generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to draft campaign content. However, some of their files contain customer PII, financial forecasts, and unreleased product details. Without proper controls, these tools could inadvertently access or expose sensitive data.

Using Microsoft Purview, the organization can:

  • Apply sensitivity labels to documents (e.g., “Confidential – Customer Data”) that restrict AI access unless the user has explicit permissions
  • Enforce Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies that block sensitive content from being pasted into AI prompts or uploaded to unauthorized apps
  • Use Purview’s Endpoint DLP to monitor and prevent data transfer to browser-based AI tools and AI plugins—even outside the corporate network
  • Tag and block risky AI apps via Defender for Cloud Apps, ensuring only sanctioned tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot are allowed
  • Restrict Copilot summarization of highly sensitive files, allowing only link references instead of full content exposure

Outcome: This setup ensures that AI tools only interact with data users are authorized to access, reducing the risk of oversharing, prompt injection, or data leakage.

Real-World Example #4: Auto-Encrypting Emails with Sensitive Data

An insurance agency wants to ensure that any email containing sensitive client information—like Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, or driver’s license numbers—is encrypted before it leaves the organization.

Using Microsoft Purview, they can:

  • Define sensitive information types
  • Create mail flow rules in Exchange Online that trigger encryption when these data types are detected
  • Apply Microsoft Purview Message Encryption using templates like “Encrypt” or “Do Not Forward”
  • Ensure seamless access for internal users and secure portal access for external recipients
  • Audit and monitor encrypted messages for compliance and incident response

Outcome: Emails containing sensitive data are automatically encrypted before sending, reducing the risk of exposure and ensuring compliance with privacy mandates. External recipients can securely view messages via a web portal, while internal users experience seamless access through Outlook.

 

SecureSky: Your Trusted Partner for Microsoft Purview Success

Navigating Microsoft Purview’s expansive data governance and security capabilities can be complex—but SecureSky makes it simple. With deep expertise in compliance, insider risk, DLP, and AI-aware data protection, SecureSky helps organizations unlock Purview’s full potential. From initial assessments to tailored policy deployment, our team ensures your sensitive data is classified, protected, and governed—across clouds, endpoints, and AI tools.

Whether you're mitigating insider threats, preparing for audits, or enabling safe AI adoption, SecureSky delivers clarity, control, and confidence every step of the way.

 

Ready to explore Purview for your organization? Let’s talk.

 

Additional Resources

 
View full post