Master Copilot Security: Protect Your Data in Microsoft 365

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Master Copilot Security: Protect Your Data in Microsoft 365
Microsoft Copilot is a powerful AI productivity tool embedded in Microsoft 365 applications that can transform daily workflows. It can draft documents and presentations, capture action items in Teams meetings, analyze data in Excel, and much more. Many organizations are now exploring Copilot for security enhancements as well, given its ability to streamline and automate critical tasks.

However, adopting Microsoft Copilot for security also introduces new data protection challenges due to its access to all the data stored across Microsoft 365: documents, presentations, emails, notes, and more. This paper explains how to prepare your organization for a secure Copilot rollout and maintain robust data protection moving forward.

Understanding the Copilot Security Risks


Implementing Copilot security in your environment requires a clear understanding of the associated risks. Key factors that can make Microsoft Copilot security adoption risky include:

- Improper permissions — Copilot relies on the permissions assigned in Microsoft 365. If users or groups have been granted inappropriate access to content, sensitive information can quickly spiral out of control, resulting in data breaches and costly compliance violations. Proper configuration is essential to fully leverage security Copilot capabilities.
- Inaccurate data classification — Like any intelligent system, Copilot’s effectiveness is governed by the sensitivity labels applied to protect data. If classification is incomplete or inconsistent, data remains vulnerable. Manual labeling introduces human error, and native Microsoft labeling technology has limitations regarding certain file types, impacting copilot for security performance.
- Copilot-generated content — New documents created by Copilot do not automatically inherit sensitivity labels from source materials. As a result, new documents containing confidential information might be inadvertently shared with unauthorized users. Managing the high volume of content generated by Microsoft Copilot security tools requires a solid data classification and monitoring strategy.