Protect your information with information classification in Microsoft 365

In a world where digital security is paramount, information classification plays a key role in protecting businesses and their customers. Managing and protecting sensitive documents is a challenge that all organizations face. By classifying the information, you ensure that the right level of protection is applied, reducing the risk of damage and security breaches.

What is information classification?

Classifying information means identifying and classifying documents and records according to their importance to your business. With the right classification, you can assess what security measures are needed to protect the information against unauthorized disclosure, mishandling or loss. It’s about putting the right protection on the right information, which helps to create a robust and secure information environment.

Protection value of the classification

An effective classification system is based on the protection value of the information. By assessing the potential damage that unauthorized access or mishandling can cause, you create a model where different levels of protection are implemented. Information is classified based on three main aspects:

Accessibility: Give authorized persons access to information when they need it.

Confidentiality: Protecting information from unauthorized access.

Accuracy: Ensure that the information remains unchanged and correct.

Implementation of information classification

To be successful in information classification, organizations need to define a structured classification scheme that takes into account the above aspects. This scheme should be regularly reviewed and adapted to the needs of the business. It ensures that the organization stays ahead of threats and creates an information security culture that protects both the business and its customers.

Information classification in Microsoft 365 with Purview Information Protection

Microsoft Purview Information Protection is a powerful tool to automate and streamline information classification. It allows organizations to identify and protect sensitive information by marking documents with so-called sensitivity labels. These labels can be applied manually or automatically depending on the content of the document, and offer customized protection measures such as encryption and watermarks.

With Purview Information Protection, security measures can be applied to anything from individual documents to entire SharePoint libraries, Microsoft Teams, or OneDrive. For example, you can define that all documents in a specific library are classified as “confidential”, creating an automated safety net for your organization’s most sensitive data.

Conclusion

In today’s digital landscape, information classification is a necessity for organizations that want to protect their information and maintain high security. By using tools like Microsoft Purview Information Protection, organizations can create a flexible and customizable information security solution, reducing risk and ensuring that documents are managed safely and effectively.