The first challenge many organizations face is understanding what kind of data they have and where it resides. Before you can protect sensitive data, you need full visibility into your environment. This process begins with identifying, classifying, and managing sensitive data. Here’s a general framework to help guide the process:
- Describe the categories of sensitive information you want to protect: Start by identifying the types of sensitive data in your organization, such as financial data, customer records, or intellectual property. Then, determine the level of protection each type requires.
- Discover and classify sensitive data: Using tools like sensitive information types and trainable classifiers, you can automatically discover and label sensitive data to ensure its security.
- View and manage your sensitive items: Once classified, sensitive data can be monitored and managed throughout its lifecycle using policies and centralized tools.
As you move through these steps, consider these questions to help refine your strategy:
- Who owns my data?
- What types of data do I have?
- Where is my data?
- Why is it a risk?
- What methods can I use to classify my data?
- Where can I classify my data?
- How can I see what happens to my data over its lifecycle?
Now that you understand the basic steps, let’s explore how Microsoft Purview enables data classification through its tools and policies. These concepts help you discover, protect, and manage sensitive data across your environment.
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