DSPM for Microsoft 365: The Top 5 Data Security Benefits You Shouldn’t Ignore

Microsoft 365 fuels enterprise collaboration with tools like OneDrive, Sharepoint, Outlook, and Teams. While it empowers organizations to innovate and stay connected, it also introduces significant data security and compliance challenges, amplified by AI-powered tools like Copilot.  To secure Microsoft 365 effectively, organizations should consider implementing Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) to quickly discover and classify Microsoft 365 data with high precision. 

Below are five critical outcomes DSPM can bring to your data security program as it relates to Microsoft 365. 

1. Gain Visibility into Your Data Landscape

The problem: Microsoft 365 facilitates the rapid creation and accumulation of sensitive data, which is often sent sprawling, sometimes unprotected, across email and collaborative spaces . This creates blind spots that can leave organizations at risk.

How DSPM helps: DSPM helps you inventory sensitive data and the critical elements relating to it, such as where data resides, how it’s stored, how it’s protected, and who–or what–has access to it. Establishing this comprehensive and ongoing view of your Microsoft 365 data landscape is the first step toward data security success.

2. Reduce False Positives and Increase Classification Coverage

The problem: Traditional classification methods–without the use of AI–often generate significant false positives, wasting time and letting sensitive data fall through the cracks. The predominantly unstructured nature of data in Microsoft 365 makes it challenging to classify.

How DSPM helps: With AI-driven DSPM, classification goes beyond basic pattern matching and regular expressions, helping uncover sensitive data that’s unique to your organization without having to endlessly tune classifiers. Cyera provides precise classification as well as detailed, granular context about your Microsoft 365 data through the use of industry-specific large language models (LLMs). Roughly 25% of data classified by Cyera is done with AI–data that traditional methods would have left unclassified. 

3. Enable Effective DLP Through Precise Data Classification

The problem: Microsoft Purview uses pattern-based classifiers and manual labeling to enforce Data Loss Prevention (DLP) in Microsoft 365. However, these methods lack the contextual understanding needed to accurately protect sensitive data, resulting in overly permissive policies that allow data exfiltration or overly restrictive policies that disrupt business.

How DSPM helps: DSPM provides the precise data classification needed to power effective DLP. By understanding your data to identify what is truly sensitive, DPSM enables the creation of more accurate DLP policies for Microsoft 365, reducing overblocking and strengthening protection for critical information, such as financial records and customer data.

4. Simplify Compliance and Reducing Risks Without Compromising Collaboration

The Problem: Maintaining compliance in Microsoft 365 is an ongoing challenge due to the complexity of managing sensitive data across SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and Outlook. The fast pace of collaboration leads to data sprawl, overexposed files, and gaps in retention, increasing risks of regulatory violations. 

How DSPM Helps: DSPM simplifies compliance by continuously monitoring across your data ecosystem, automatically detecting top Microsoft 365 risks such as:

• Restricted data sprawl
• Overpermissive external access
• Unmanaged storage locations 
• Overpermissive internal access
• Missing / mislabeled sensitivity labels
• Stale identities with access
• Unmanaged privileged users
• Monitoring data retention
• Data localization issues
• Overexposed data accessible via Copilot

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Without the in-depth data classification context and risk intelligence provided by Cyera, Microsoft administrators must apply broad controls without understanding what’s really necessary based on the data in question. This adds friction and reduces the collaborative value of the platform.

5. Reduce Your Data Attack Surface

The Problem: Unmanaged or obsolete data—such as sensitive files shared externally or orphaned documents in shared drives—can quickly become a liability if not properly secured or disposed of.

How DSPM Helps: DSPM provides the clarity you need to confidently delete data, ensuring that obsolete files—wherever they are stored within Microsoft 365—are removed in accordance with compliance and business policies. This proactive approach reduces risk, simplifies audits, and keeps your Microsoft 365 environment aligned with regulatory requirements. In addition, DSPM helps you ensure that access controls, encryption measures, tokenization, MFA, logging, and other security protocols are applied correctly based on the data's sensitivity and risk level.

Building a Resilient Security Strategy for Microsoft 365

Securing Microsoft 365 requires a balance between enabling productivity and managing risk. With DSPM, organizations can address these challenges and unblock critical projects that require clear data visibility, such as AI use cases. 

Integrating DSPM into your data security strategy provides the automation, precision, and control needed to protect sensitive data without disrupting workflows. Request a demo today to learn more about how Cyera can help you secure your Microsoft 365 environment.  

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