Microsoft has a new tool for IT admins to investigate security breaches

Building and maintaining a good cybersecurity posture is usually a cornerstone of good organizations. Many vendors offer varied security solutions, but most firms tend to stick to the offerings made available by the ecosystem that they are already entrenched in. Although cybersecurity is critical, it is equally important to have a robust data governance mechanism to reduce the risk of breaches. Now, Microsoft has introduced a new utility to aid data-related investigations in its Purview suite.

Although some customers have already been using Microsoft Purview Data Investigations for some time through the public preview, the Redmond tech firm is now ready to make this unified solution generally available. Data Investigations is essentially a service that allows IT admins and security personnel to identify and investigate data related to breaches, and mitigate risks, all with the help of AI.

Microsoft says that during the public preview, customers used Data Investigations to scan files on SharePoint at scale to determine if sensitive credentials were being exposed, understood the risks of the data exposed following a breach, discovered suspicious communications related to fraudulent activities, determine who accessed sensitive files, and spotted "inappropriate content" in online communication channels. Microsoft boasts that investigations that previously took weeks or simply weren"t possible at all are now completed within hours.

This entire infrastructure is powered by AI technologies like semantic search, vector search, contextual analysis, content categorization, and more. It also sports integrations with Microsoft Defender XDR incident, Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management, Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management, and Microsoft Sentinel. The Redmond firm has also offered cost estimators and a utilization dashboard so customers don"t go overbudget while carrying out exhaustive scans and investigations.

Microsoft says that Purview Data Investigations is not only a reactive tool, but is also proactive in nature as can be noticed in some of the examples given previously. You can find out more about the tool, now generally available, here.