Describe the capabilities in the Microsoft Purview governance portal

Microsoft Purview, formerly known as Microsoft Information Protection and Governance, is a comprehensive suite of tools designed to help organizations manage their compliance, data governance, and information protection requirements effectively. The Microsoft Purview governance portal is a key component of this suite, offering users a centralized location to access various data governance capabilities. Here is an in-depth look at these capabilities, relevant to those preparing for the SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals exam.

Data Classification and Inventory

The primary functions of the Microsoft Purview governance portal include providing organizations with the ability to classify data across their digital landscape. The portal includes features that enable users to:

• Discover and classify sensitive data across on-premises, endpoints, cloud applications, and cloud services.
• Use built-in or custom classification labels to identify data based on its sensitivity and apply protection accordingly.
• Automate data classification using machine learning-based classifiers that recognize standard sensitive data types such as credit card numbers or personal identification numbers.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

The portal empowers organizations to prevent accidental data loss or unauthorized data sharing through its data loss prevention capabilities:

• Create and enforce DLP policies across Microsoft 365 services like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams.
• Detect and protect sensitive information in motion, at rest, and in use.
• Generate reports and alerts for user activities that violate DLP policies, giving administrators the insight needed to take remedial action.

Information Protection and Encryption

The Microsoft Purview governance portal facilitates the protection of sensitive information through a range of information protection mechanisms:

• Implement and manage sensitivity labels that can encrypt, restrict access, and apply visual markings on sensitive content.
• Deploy Information Rights Management (IRM) policies to control who can access information and what they can do with it.
• Apply encryption to email messages and attachments with Office 365 Message Encryption (OME) to secure communications even when they are sent outside the organization.

Information Governance

The portal also enables organizations to establish and enforce their information governance policies:

• Define and enforce retention policies and records management to ensure data is retained for the required duration and disposed of when it is no longer needed.
• Manage the entire lifecycle of information within the organization from creation to disposition.
• Automate the categorization of records and enforce policies for in-place records management.

eDiscovery and Audit

For legal and compliance purposes, the Microsoft Purview governance portal provides robust eDiscovery and audit functionality:

• Perform content searches across Microsoft 365 locations for legal, HR, and compliance investigations.
• Preserve data relevant to litigation or investigations using legal hold capabilities.
• Use the advanced eDiscovery solution to analyze large data sets and reduce the volume of data for review.

Risk Management

The governance portal is instrumental in helping organizations manage risks associated with their data:

• Assess the compliance posture of the organization with Compliance Manager, which provides a score based on controls and actions.
• Manage insider risk by defining policies that help detect and investigate risky user activity.
• Utilize information barriers to restrict communication and collaboration between certain user groups to avoid conflicts of interest.

Examples and Use Cases:

Various examples and use cases illustrate the value of the Microsoft Purview governance portal’s capabilities:

• A financial institution can use the DLP capabilities to ensure that credit card numbers or other personally identifiable information are not sent via email unless they are encrypted.
• A healthcare provider might use the information governance tools to manage patient records, ensuring that sensitive information is retained for the legally mandated period before disposal.
• A law firm could utilize eDiscovery and legal hold features to respond to litigation by searching for and preserving relevant documents.

In summary, the Microsoft Purview governance portal offers a robust set of tools designed to address a variety of data governance needs. Through data classification, loss prevention, protection, governance, and risk management capabilities, the portal helps organizations maintain compliance with regulatory requirements, protect sensitive information, and manage data risks effectively. As individuals prepare for the SC-900 exam, they should become familiar with these capabilities and understand how they apply in real-world scenarios.