Microsoft Purview Information Protection Cheat Sheet

A unified data security service within Microsoft Purview that allows you to discover, classify, label, and protect sensitive information across your digital estate, including Microsoft 365, Azure, on-premises file shares, and third-party apps.
You can protect your documents and emails by applying labels.

Features

• Unified Data Discovery & Scanning: Actively scan and classify data at rest across non-Microsoft cloud apps and SaaS applications, on-premises file shares, Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange, Teams), and endpoints.

• Advanced Classification & Labeling: Apply sensitivity labels automatically using built-in or custom trainable classifiers and hundreds of sensitive information types (e.g., credit card numbers). Labels provide:

  • Classification

  • Visual Markings (headers, footers, watermarks)

  • Metadata (for tracking and policy enforcement)

• Protection & Encryption: Secure content with encryption and access restrictions (control who can edit, view, print, forward) by applying labels. This protection is powered by the Azure Rights Management (Azure RMS) service.

• Activity Monitoring & Insights: Track your shared data, revoke access if needed, and gain insights into how sensitive data is being used to inform policy.



• Integration with Microsoft Purview: Works natively with solutions like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to block oversharing and Insider Risk Management to assess user risk based on interactions with sensitive files.

How to Apply Labels

Labels can be applied:

• Automatically – by administrators using policies.

• Manually – by users.

• By combination – as recommendations to users.

Working with Labels
You can use custom sensitivity labels tailored to your organization’s policy. Create and manage them in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal.
(Note: The old default labels like “Personal, General, Confidential, Highly Confidential” are from the retired client. Focus is now on custom labels you define.)

Key Components & Architecture

• Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal: The central hub for defining labels, policies, and viewing reports.

• Azure Information Protection (Azure RMS): The underlying encryption and protection technology.

• Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) SDK: Allows third-party and custom applications to natively apply and enforce sensitivity labels.

Want to learn more about Azure? Watch the official Microsoft Azure YouTube channel’s video series called Azure Tips and Tricks.

Microsoft Purview Information Protection Cheat Sheet References:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/information-protection/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/information-protection/what-is-information-protection