In today’s digital landscape, protecting sensitive data is crucial to ensure compliance with industry standards and avoid data breaches. Microsoft Fabric provides a powerful set of tools for data processing, while Microsoft Purview Information Protection enables businesses to classify, label, and protect sensitive information across environments. This guide will walk you through how to apply labels in Microsoft Fabric using Microsoft Purview Information Protection to enhance your organization’s data governance and security.
What is Microsoft Purview Information Protection?
Microsoft Purview Information Protection (formerly known as Azure Information Protection) is a unified solution designed to classify, label, and protect data. It helps organizations manage their sensitive information through manual or automated classification, ensuring that sensitive data is always protected. Whether the data is stored in the cloud or on-premises, Microsoft Purview ensures that the right security measures are in place, using labels and policies to enforce rules on how data should be accessed and shared.
For more information on Microsoft Purview Information Protection, visit the official Microsoft documentation:
Microsoft Purview Information Protection Overview
What is Microsoft Fabric?
Microsoft Fabric is a unified analytics platform that combines the best of Azure Synapse, Power BI, and other Microsoft analytics tools. It provides comprehensive tools for data integration, engineering, warehousing, data science, and real-time analytics. One of its strengths lies in its seamless integration with Microsoft Purview, which ensures that sensitive information in Fabric is governed and protected.
How to Apply Labels in Microsoft Fabric Using Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Here are the steps to apply labels to data in Microsoft Fabric using Microsoft Purview Information Protection:
Step 1: Define Sensitivity Labels in Microsoft Purview
Before applying labels in Microsoft Fabric, you must first create and configure sensitivity labels in Microsoft Purview. Sensitivity labels allow you to classify and protect data based on its sensitivity level (e.g., confidential, public, etc.).
- Go to the Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal:
- Navigate to the Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal using this link: Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal.
- Create a New Sensitivity Label:
- In the portal, click on Information Protection on the left-hand side.
- Select Labels > Create a label.
- Enter a name and description for the label (e.g., “Confidential” or “Public”) and configure the protection settings such as encryption, content marking (headers, footers, and watermarks), and access restrictions.
- Publish the Sensitivity Label:
- After creating the label, you must publish it by selecting Label Policies.
- Create a policy to apply the labels to users, groups, or sites where the protection settings will be enforced.
For a detailed walkthrough on setting up sensitivity labels, visit:
How to Create and Configure Sensitivity Labels
Step 2: Integrate Microsoft Purview with Microsoft Fabric
Once the sensitivity labels are configured in Microsoft Purview, you need to ensure that Microsoft Fabric can recognize and apply these labels.
- Access Microsoft Fabric:
- Navigate to Microsoft Fabric, typically through the Azure portal or directly from your workspace in the Power BI or Synapse workspace interfaces.
- Enable Label Integration in Microsoft Fabric:
- Ensure that Microsoft Fabric is set up to integrate with Microsoft Purview Information Protection. This can typically be done by enabling Purview services within the Fabric settings or admin portal.
- Apply Sensitivity Labels to Data in Microsoft Fabric:
- In your workspace (whether using Power BI, Synapse, or another Fabric component), locate the dataset, report, or file you want to label.
- Right-click on the dataset, and you will see an option to Apply Sensitivity Label. Here, you can choose the appropriate sensitivity label (e.g., “Confidential”, “Internal”, etc.) that you created in Microsoft Purview.
Step 3: Automate Labeling with Data Scanning and Classification
For large organizations with massive datasets, manually applying labels may not be feasible. Luckily, Microsoft Purview provides automated scanning and classification tools.
- Set Up Automated Data Scanning:
- In Microsoft Purview, you can define policies that automatically scan and classify data based on predefined rules.
- Go to Data classification in the Microsoft Purview portal and configure automated policies for identifying sensitive data like Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or financial records.
- Classify and Label Data Automatically:
- When data is ingested or updated in Microsoft Fabric, the scanning tools will automatically apply the correct sensitivity label according to your classification rules.
For more details on automated classification, visit:
Automate Data Classification in Microsoft Purview
Step 4: Monitor and Report Data Sensitivity in Microsoft Fabric
After applying sensitivity labels in Microsoft Fabric, it’s essential to monitor how data is being accessed and used to ensure compliance and prevent potential data leaks.
- Use Microsoft Purview for Monitoring:
- Microsoft Purview provides detailed reports on how sensitivity labels are being applied and how data is being accessed across your environment. You can view insights into data classification, sensitive data distribution, and policy enforcement.
- Generate Compliance Reports:
- In Microsoft Purview’s Compliance Manager, you can generate and review compliance reports that detail data usage, label application, and adherence to security policies.
For additional guidance on monitoring and reporting, explore:
Monitor and Report Sensitivity Label Usage
Conclusion
By applying sensitivity labels in Microsoft Fabric using Microsoft Purview Information Protection, organizations can significantly enhance their data security, compliance, and governance strategies. The tight integration between Microsoft Fabric and Purview ensures that sensitive data is classified, labeled, and protected, no matter where it resides or how it is accessed.
By following the steps outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to ensuring that your organization’s sensitive information is protected and meets regulatory compliance standards.
For more in-depth guidance, you can explore Microsoft’s official resources: