InsightsCase Studies

Enhancing Data Security and Compliance with Microsoft 365 Information Protection & DLP

A global consumer products company with a distributed workforce needed to strengthen its information security posture. With sensitive intellectual property, regulatory obligations across multiple jurisdictions, and increasing use of Microsoft 365 collaboration tools, the security team sought a more resilient approach to protecting critical data against leakage, misuse, or unauthorized access.

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5

Weeks to Completion

5

Data Classification Methods

20

Use Cases

Challenge

The existing environment lacked unified policies for sensitivity labeling, retention, and data loss prevention, making it difficult to enforce consistent governance across all business units.

The client faced significant risks around:

  • Data leakage from collaboration data in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
  • Lack of consistent data classification leading to overexposed sensitive content.
  • Insufficient DLP controls for email and cloud-based sharing, creating regulatory and reputational risks.
  • Growing compliance pressure across global operations, requiring alignment with GDPR, CCPA, and industry-specific regulations.

Process

A flowpath showing the process: kickoff + plan, M365 Environment scan, Current state assessment, High-level designs + testing plans, purview sensitivity labels configured, and MIP and DLP testing.

Solution

Lighthouse partnered with the client to design a comprehensive Microsoft Purview Information Protection and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) framework pilot that could scale globally. The solution included:

A set of graphic shapes with benefits: Data Classification Strategy A practical, role-based labeling schema with sensitivity labels mapped to regulatory and business needs. Information Protection Policies Encryption, access restrictions, and automatic labeling rules applied consistently across Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Controls Targeted policies for preventing unauthorized sharing of sensitive data (financial, HR, and R&D), with monitoring and adaptive response workflows.Governance Workflows Retention and legal hold requirements implemented to ensure defensible data management and streamlined compliance reporting.

This design provided the foundation for both proactive risk reduction and reactive incident handling.

Results

Through this engagement, the client achieved:

  • Reduced risk of data exposure by applying consistent labeling and DLP rules across collaboration platforms.
  • Improved regulatory compliance by aligning information protection policies with global privacy and industry frameworks.
  • Enhanced incident visibility with reporting dashboards and adaptive policies that alerted security teams to high-risk events.
  • Sustainable governance model enabling scalability as new collaboration tools and AI-driven workflows are adopted.

Why It Matters

As global enterprises accelerate digital collaboration, data security gaps in Microsoft 365 environments can create regulatory, financial, and reputational risk. By implementing a comprehensive governance and DLP framework, organizations can protect their most valuable assets: intellectual property, customer data, and regulated records, while enabling employees to work securely across borders.

This project highlights how a well-designed information protection program, supported by Microsoft Purview, can simultaneously strengthen security and simplify compliance for multinational companies.

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