Data loss prevention (DLP) is a feature of Microsoft Office 365 that helps you protect your data from accidental or unauthorized loss. DLP scans your email and attachments for sensitive information and then helps you protect that information by either blocking the email from being sent or by encrypting the information.
How does data loss prevention work?
Data loss prevention works by identifying and classifying sensitive data, then controlling how that data can be accessed, shared, and used. Sensitive data can include personal information such as Social Security numbers or credit card data, as well as business-critical information such as customer data or product specifications.
DLP solutions use a variety of techniques to identify sensitive data, including pattern recognition, content analysis, and metadata inspection. Once sensitive data is identified, DLP solutions can apply access controls to prevent it from being accessed or shared without proper authorization. DLP can also monitor how data is used, in order to detect and prevent unauthorized access, copying, or deletion.
Data loss prevention in Office 365 works by scanning your email and attachments for sensitive information. If DLP finds any sensitive information, it will either block the email from being sent or encrypt the information.
How can you protect your data at Office 365?
There are a number of things you can do to protect your data from loss or theft. One of the most important is to use strong passwords and to keep them confidential. You should also install security software on your computer and keep it up to date.
You should also be careful about where you store your data. If you store sensitive data on a portable device such as a laptop or USB drive, be sure to password protect it and keep it in a safe place. If you store data in the cloud, be sure to use a secure connection (SSL) and choose a reputable cloud provider.
Also, to protect your data, you can use data loss prevention in Office 365. DLP scans your email and attachments for sensitive information and then helps you protect that information by either blocking the email from being sent or by encrypting the information.
How to enable DLP
To enable DLP in Office 365, you need to be a global administrator or a security administrator. The following steps need to be followed to enable DLP:
- In the Office 365 admin center, go to the Security & Compliance Center.
- In the Security & Compliance Center, go to the Data Loss Prevention page.
- On the Data Loss Prevention page, click the Enable button.
- In the Enable DLP dialog box, click the Yes button.
- The DLP service will start scanning your data for sensitive data.
- To view the reports of the DLP scans, go to the Reports page in the Security & Compliance Center.
Conclusion
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a process used to identify, monitor and protect sensitive data. DLP can be used in on-premises environments or in cloud-based environments such as Office 365.
Office 365 includes a number of pre-defined filters, and customers can also create custom filters. DLP policies can be configured for individual users or groups, and alerts can be generated when sensitive data is detected.