Mastering Microsoft Purview

We always say data is the lifeblood of innovation, and protecting that data is more critical than ever. Organisations are embracing AI at breakneck speed, but with great opportunity comes great responsibility. This is where Microsoft Purview steps in. Purview is Microsoft’s comprehensive suite for data governance, protection, and compliance. It helps businesses stay ahead of the curve by ensuring sensitive information is managed and secured, even as AI systems and Copilot agents become part of everyday work.

In this article, we’ll explore the value Microsoft Purview delivers to organisations: from its core capabilities in safeguarding data, to the cutting-edge Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) module that continuously monitors and protects sensitive information. We’ll also dive into Microsoft’s recent Purview updates – particularly the exciting integration with Microsoft Security Copilot – and what they mean for keeping your organisation secure and AI-ready. Finally, we’ll discuss how your team can gain the skills to leverage Purview through specialised training (including a new workshop Digital Bricks offers in multiple languages).

Whether you’re an IT leader, a business decision-maker, or simply curious about data governance in the age of AI, read on to learn how mastering Microsoft Purview can safeguard your organisation’s future.

Why Microsoft Purview Matters in an AI-Driven World

Every organisation today deals with an explosion of data across cloud services, on-premises systems, and devices. With stricter regulations and privacy laws emerging (GDPR, anyone?), governing this data is no small feat. Microsoft Purview was built to tackle this challenge by providing a unified platform for data security, governance and compliance. In practical terms, Purview helps your organisation:

1. Discover and classify sensitive data: Identify what your sensitive information is and where it resides across your entire IT estate. Purview can automatically scan and label data (for example, marking documents as Confidential or Highly Sensitive), so you always know what needs protection.

2. Protect information with policies: Once data is classified, Purview enables you to apply protection controls. Information Protection in Purview uses sensitivity labels and encryption to safeguard files and emails. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies then ensure that sensitive data doesn’t slip through the cracks – stopping users from mistakenly sharing confidential files via email, chat, or even printing or copying them to insecure locations.

3. Prevent and detect insider risks: Not all threats come from outside. Purview’s Insider Risk Management monitors user activities for signs of risky behaviour, such as an employee downloading large amounts of sensitive files or attempting to leak information. It intelligently flags these patterns, helping security teams investigate and take action before minor issues become major incidents.

4. Streamline compliance and eDiscovery: For legal and regulatory needs, eDiscovery tools in Purview let you find and preserve information (emails, documents, chat logs) relevant to investigations or lawsuits. Meanwhile, Purview’s compliance dashboard and Communication Compliance features help ensure employees are following policies (for instance, detecting if inappropriate or sensitive content is being shared in chats). All of this makes it easier to meet audit and regulatory requirements with confidence.

In short, Microsoft Purview acts as a central nervous system for data governance: giving you visibility into your data, protecting it with robust controls, and helping you comply with the rules that apply to your business. For any organisation looking to build products and make decisions powered by data (and these days, who isn’t?), Purview provides the foundation of trust and safety that makes innovation possible.

Data Security Posture Management

One of the newest and most impactful components of Purview is Data Security Posture Management (DSPM). Think of DSPM as your organisation’s data security radar. It continuously discovers, classifies, and safeguards sensitive data across your digital environment – including multiple clouds and platforms. This constant monitoring is crucial for identifying vulnerabilities (like sensitive files that aren’t protected or are being accessed in risky ways) and then helping you fix them.

Why is DSPM so essential, especially as organisations rush to adopt AI? The answer lies in the dependency of AI systems on data. AI and Copilot services can only be as effective – and responsible – as the data they train on and access. If that data is mishandled, unclassified, or left exposed, it creates a serious security and compliance risk. For example, imagine an employee feeding a proprietary customer list into an AI tool to get insights. Without proper guardrails, that sensitive data could leak or be stored insecurely. DSPM is designed to spot these scenarios in real time and help you respond.

DSPM provides dashboards and reports showing your current data security posture. At a glance, you can see how much sensitive data you have, where it’s stored, and how well it’s protected. Trends over time highlight if your organisation is getting better at securing data or if new risks are emerging. Purview doesn’t just show problems – it suggests solutions. DSPM uses insights from across Purview (data classification, DLP alerts, user activity trends) to recommend actions like “Apply a DLP policy to protect these credit card numbers” or “Enable an insider risk policy for this department”. With one click, you can implement these fixes, directly from the DSPM interface.

Uniquely, Purview’s DSPM is built with AI scenarios in mind. It monitors how AI applications (such as Microsoft 365 Copilot or even third-party AI tools) are accessing and using your data. For instance, if users are pasting sensitive information into an external AI chatbot, DSPM can detect this. It even offers policies to capture AI interactions (prompts and responses) so that they can be reviewed later for compliance or investigations. In essence, DSPM ensures that as your team explores AI solutions, you’re not flying blind – you have continuous visibility and control over the data involved.

By establishing a strong data security posture, your organisation creates the perfect launchpad for responsible AI adoption. You’ll enable your teams to leverage AI and advanced analytics confidently, knowing that sensitive data is inventoried, governed, and protected at all times. In the race to innovate with AI, DSPM is the safety harness that keeps you from tumbling into a data breach or compliance nightmare.

Purview Meets Security Copilot for Adaptive Protection in Action

Microsoft’s commitment to data security in the age of AI doesn’t stop at monitoring and recommendations – it now extends to AI-powered assistance and adaptive response. A recent update to Microsoft Purview integrates it with Microsoft Security Copilot, bringing a whole new level of intelligence and automation to your data protection strategy.

So, what is Security Copilot? It’s an AI assistant for cybersecurity and compliance teams, designed to help analyse threats and respond quickly using the power of large language models (think of it as a specialised “Copilot” for security experts). Within Purview, Security Copilot now acts as a smart sidekick that can: summarise alerts, identify patterns in your data security logs, and even answer your questions about the organisation’s data risks in a conversational way. This makes life easier for IT and security professionals, who can ask something like, “Show me any unusual data downloads by users in the last 24 hours,” and get a quick, AI-generated insight pulling from Purview’s data.

However, the integration goes beyond just Q&A. Purview and Security Copilot together enable dynamic, real-time protection adjustments – truly embracing an adaptive security approach. Here are a few game-changing capabilities that have emerged from this integration:

Purview can now automatically scan prompts and responses from AI copilots (such as Microsoft 365 Copilot) for any sensitive information. For example, if a user asks the Copilot to summarise a document that contains confidential financial data, Purview’s policies can detect that sensitive content in the prompt or the AI’s answer. This means your organisation’s protection policies extend into the realm of AI-generated content – an area that many might not even realise needs protection!

Combining Purview’s insider risk indicators with Security Copilot’s analysis, the system can detect patterns that suggest a user might be engaging in risky behaviour with data. Perhaps an employee keeps querying the AI for information on projects outside their purview, or attempts to use the AI to retrieve unusually large amounts of sensitive data. Such patterns would raise the user’s risk level in Purview.

This is where it gets really powerful. Purview has a feature called Adaptive Protection, which uses machine learning to adjust data protection policies based on a user’s risk level. With the new updates, if a user’s risk level becomes elevated (say, they’ve been flagged for multiple risky activities), Purview can automatically tighten the reins on that user’s access to sensitive information. In practice, that could mean switching that user from a mild policy (which might normally just warn them about certain actions) to a strict policy that outright blocks certain activities. And it happens on the fly, without manual intervention.

Perhaps the most dramatic benefit of Adaptive Protection is the ability to stop a potential data leak before it happens. For example, imagine a scenario: a user with a high-risk score attempts to access a highly sensitive file or SharePoint site. Normally, they might have permission to access it (maybe their role allows it), but because they’re flagged as high-risk, Purview can intervene. Through integration with Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) Conditional Access and Purview’s policies, the user can be blocked in real time from opening that file or using Copilot to read it. This dynamic blockade ensures that a potentially malicious insider or compromised account can’t misuse sensitive data, even if they technically had access rights. The system essentially says, “Given the circumstances, we’re revoking your access until things are cleared up.”

These capabilities underscore a crucial point: security and compliance in the AI era must be proactive and intelligent. It’s not enough to set static rules and hope for the best. Threats evolve, user behaviour shifts, and AI introduces new vectors for data to move around. Microsoft Purview’s integration with Security Copilot and its Adaptive Protection means your organisation’s defenses can evolve in real time too. It’s like having a security guardian angel watching over your data 24/7 – one that learns and acts instantly when something seems off.

For IT leaders, this is a big deal. It reduces the burden on security teams (who no longer have to manually adjust policies for every spike in risky behaviour) and dramatically shortens response times to incidents. For business leaders, it provides peace of mind that embracing technologies like Copilot won’t inadvertently open the floodgates to data leaks or compliance violations. You get the best of both worlds: boosted productivity with AI and maintained control over data.

Training for a Secure, Compliant Future

Understanding and implementing Microsoft Purview’s rich features – from core data governance to DSPM and Security Copilot integration – can transform your organisation’s approach to data security. But like any powerful tool, Purview yields the best results when your team knows how to use it effectively. This is where comprehensive training and workshops become invaluable.

At Digital Bricks, we recognise that building a secure, compliant, and AI-ready organisation requires not just great technology, but also skilled people. That’s why we’ve developed a dedicated Microsoft Purview workshop for teams who want to stay ahead of the curve in data governance, protection, and compliance.

This interactive workshop delves into all the areas we’ve discussed in this article, including:

• Purview’s core capabilities – How to classify sensitive data and apply labels, set up Data Loss Prevention policies that actually work in real-world scenarios, and use tools like eDiscovery and Audit to meet regulatory requirements.
• Insider risk management and response – Hands-on guidance on configuring insider risk policies, interpreting the alerts, and taking action (for example, launching an investigation or remedial training for a user who triggers risk indicators).
• Deep dive into DSPM – Learning to navigate the Data Security Posture Management dashboards, understand its recommendations, and implement them. Crucially, your team will see how DSPM ties into AI usage, giving you visibility and control over how tools like Copilot interact with your data.
• Adaptive Protection and Security Copilot – We’ll explore the latest Purview features that use AI and machine learning. Through scenarios and demos, your team will witness how Purview can scan Copilot prompts for sensitive data, how it detects risky patterns, and how to configure Adaptive Protection policies. This part of the workshop demystifies the integration with Security Copilot, showing how to harness AI rather than fear it.

What sets this training apart is its focus on practical skills. By the end, your team will not only understand Purview conceptually, but also be able to leverage it day-to-day – effectively building an internal “centre of excellence” for data governance in your organisation. We deliver the course in multiple languages (including English, Dutch, and German) to cater to diverse teams and ensure nothing gets lost in translation.

In a world where technology changes fast, investing in learning is one of the best ways to future-proof your organisation. Microsoft Purview is a prime example: its toolset is incredibly powerful, but unlocking that power requires knowledge and preparation. With the right training, your team can turn Purview’s features into real-world security victories – preventing data leaks, staying compliant with ease, and enabling the safe use of AI across the business.

Safeguarding Your Organisation’s Future

As AI continues to reshape how we work and compete, the organisations that thrive will be those who can innovate without compromising on security or trust. Microsoft Purview provides a pathway to achieve this balance. It gives you the means to know your data, protect your data, and empower your people with data – all while keeping risks in check. From automatically encrypting a sensitive file, to catching an unusual data download by an insider, to blocking a risky AI prompt in real time, Purview acts as both a shield and an enabler. It ensures that security isn’t a roadblock to progress, but rather a sturdy foundation upon which you can build new AI-driven products and services.

The recent integration of Security Copilot into Purview further amplifies this promise. It shows Microsoft’s vision of security that is not only deeply integrated but also intelligent and adaptive. Your organisation can benefit from this vision today by adopting these tools and practices early.

In conclusion, don’t wait for a headline-making breach or a compliance fine to jolt you into action. Be proactive. Strengthen your data governance now, and prepare your team to handle the future confidently. Whether you engage in a Purview workshop to upskill your workforce or start by enabling key Purview features in your Microsoft 365 environment, take the step. The ability to govern data and manage risk proactively has never been more important – and with Microsoft Purview, you have an entire arsenal ready to deploy.

Secure, compliant, and AI-ready is not just a tagline; it’s a strategic imperative. Microsoft Purview is here to help you achieve it, and with the right knowledge and training, your organisation will be well equipped to safeguard its future in the AI era.

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