The way that we are sharing important and often sensitive information is changing, with a growing focus on enhanced collaborative tools. Office 365 users are increasingly sharing data using SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Windows File Share and also Office apps. Data loss prevention is now set to expand to give greater control over this type of collaborative data in real-time.

Beyond email security

There has long been an awareness of security when it comes to email content and Office 365 incorporated data loss prevention in Exchange and Outlook, as well as Outlook Web App. It is understandable that when you write an email you don’t want the information within it to be seen by anyone else, and whilst Google maintains its email scanning policies, data loss prevention tools can help stop hackers from getting a glimpse on your private data. This is all good and well but sharing critical data via email is not the only way and Microsoft’s latest data loss prevention strategy recognizes these changes.

Collaboration needs to be safe

Microsoft has enhanced collaboration capabilities with Office 365 but along with these new ways of sharing data, there needs to be solid security measures in place too. Documents in Word and spreadsheets in Excel are created using applications and then shared via various collaboration tools. To ensure this data is safe access restrictions and permissions need to be activated.

Data loss prevention in SharePoint and OneDrive for Business

Recently eDiscovery has allowed users of SharePoint and OneDrive for Business to identify sensitive information within collaborative content. This security is set to expand to policies on restricting and blocking access, user education and to include email notifications.

Data loss prevention in Windows File Share

Windows File Server already have file classification infrastructure in place, whereby the server scans files to identify sensitive data. This data is then tagged and classified according to the definitions users set, with an ability to initiate action on this identified or classified files. The latest security, or data loss prevention, measures involve this content classification being extended to Office files in Exchange, SharePoint and OneDrive for Business. In time, this will continue to grow to include centrally managed policies and allow for greater user education within companies.

Data loss prevention in Office applications

This protection is being expanded to Microsoft applications so that when content is created users will be able to set up policies with regard to sharing permissions at the same time. Tips connected to the policies that have been established will then be offered as well. Initially, Excel will benefit from this expansion, with Word and PowerPoint being included later in the year.

The importance of data loss prevention

With so many different ways to create and share content, it is essential that business leaders can take advantage of a stable strategy for preventing data loss. If sensitive and crucial information is allowed to leak out this could be potentially incredibly damaging to a business and put productivity and profitability in jeopardy. With greater collaborative tools comes greater risk and the latest plans for Office 365 data loss prevention are a welcome layer of security to protect against data dangers.

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