Data loss prevention either prevents sensitive information from being emailed to an non-approved address or encrypts the email so that only the person it is addressed to will be able to decrypt and read the contents. 

DLP employs policies to determine which files and data are deemed confidential or sensitive, then safeguards those files from being shared or transferred. This prevents accidental disclosure of confidential or sensitive information. 

In this post we will discuss the different factors that go into effictive data loss prevention.

How DLP works in O365 

The Data Loss Prevention (DLP) feature that is included in Office 365 will automatically classify data based on templates and use the policies that have been established to either prevent an email from being sent or encrypt it using Azure Information Protection. This will ensure that your data is kept secure.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Article “Unified DLP Webinar” | By Robin Baldwin , 04/01/21

Best practices for Implementing DLP policies 

• Classify your data 

Because any data that enters or leaves your systems run the danger of being lost, it is imperative that you maintain an overarching perspective to avoid missing any potential blind spots. After you have investigated your company from top to bottom and from side to side, you need to arrange all the information you have discovered so that its relative significance is clear. 

• Eliminate unnecessary data 

It is necessary to address the issue of excessive data that does not serve a particular purpose. If it appears that some data is being gathered and retained merely because it is accessible, this is a red flag that indicates the practice is likely doing more damage than good. It not only makes your data landscape more cluttered but also diverts your attention from the most critical data and generates a more significant possibility for data loss. 

• Refine your policies and procedures 

When establishing a DLP program, one of the most crucial best practices to keep in mind is that there will never come a moment when you can dust off your hands and consider the task over. This is one of the most important things to keep in mind. If the data is there, the responsibility to actively safeguard it and stop it from being lost also exists. 

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