stay ahead of insider risks before they become business disruptions

microsoft purview insider risk management

Today’s organizations face a growing challenge: critical data is no longer confined to secure networks or offices. Employees work remotely, data lives across cloud platforms, and insider risks—from accidental leaks to intentional data theft—are harder to spot. IT and business leaders are expected to prevent internal breaches, protect intellectual property, and meet compliance requirements without disrupting productivity or violating privacy. And yet, insider threats now account for the majority of data-related incidents.

What is Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management helps your organization detect, investigate, and take action on risky activities by employees and other insiders—all while respecting user privacy. It uses machine learning and signals from across Microsoft 365 to surface patterns of behavior that suggest potential data leaks, IP theft, security violations, or policy breaches.

Built directly into the Microsoft 365 compliance ecosystem, it gives security, compliance, HR, and legal teams a unified approach to insider threats. Whether an employee is preparing to leave the company or a high-risk user triggers a pattern of suspicious behavior, you get early visibility into activities that could lead to data loss, reputational damage, or regulatory issues.

What can you do with Purview Insider Risk Management?

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is packed with capabilities designed to help you identify, investigate, and manage internal data risks with confidence. Below are the key features that equip your organization to act quickly, responsibly, and effectively.

Risk-based policy templates

Use built-in templates to quickly address common risk scenarios like data leaks, departing employee data theft, or policy violations. Customize policies by role, department, or risk level.

Behavioral analytics and machine learning

Automatically correlate user actions across emails, files, Teams, endpoints, and cloud apps to detect patterns that indicate potential risk—without the noise of false positives.

Alert prioritization and risk scoring

Get a clear view of your most urgent risks. Insider actions are scored based on severity and context so your team can focus on what matters.

Integrated investigation workflow

Group alerts into case files, track investigations, and collaborate with security, HR, and compliance teams—all in one interface. Easily escalate cases to eDiscovery when needed.

Privacy-first monitoring

Employees are anonymized by default. Only authorized investigators can unmask identities when justified. Role-based access and audit trails help ensure ethical usage.

Cross-platform signal integration

Leverage native integrations with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft 365 DLP, Azure AD, Communication Compliance, and more for a 360-degree view of insider activity.

Learn more about Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance.

How can Purview Insider Risk Management help your organization?

Synergy Technical textured background image for the Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management page.

An employee works without interruption as Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management quietly monitors signals across Microsoft 365, ensuring that data stays protected without getting in the way of day-to-day productivity.

As a marketing manager works on client presentations and shares files in Microsoft Teams, Insider Risk Management runs silently in the background—protecting sensitive content without slowing her down or interrupting collaboration with her team.

Detect and respond to insider threats early

Insider risks often go unnoticed until it’s too late, when sensitive data is already exposed or compliance violations have occurred. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management helps your organization catch warning signs early by analyzing user behavior across Microsoft 365. Whether it’s an employee preparing to leave, unusual file activity, or repeated policy violations, your team can respond quickly with actions like user coaching, access reviews, or full investigations, reducing the impact before it escalates. .

A dashboard screenshot from Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management shows alerts categorized by severity, a timeline of risky activities, and anonymized user details—offering investigators a clear and ethical way to assess internal risks.

Strengthen data protection without friction

Most insider risk tools either slow users down or leave gaps. Purview Insider Risk Management is built to protect your organization’s most valuable data without getting in the way of everyday productivity. It works silently in the background, using built-in signals from Microsoft 365 to monitor data movement and behavior. Teams can continue collaborating freely while the system continuously watches for signs of data misuse, risky downloads, or unusual access patterns, all without intrusive workflows or added overhead.

Security, compliance, and HR teams collaborate through the shared case management platform in Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management, using role-based access to investigate an insider incident while maintaining privacy and accountability.

During an active investigation into potential data exfiltration, the security team partners with HR and compliance using Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management’s shared case workflow, allowing each group to contribute insights while keeping the process controlled and auditable.

After communication compliance policies flag inappropriate behavior, the user is automatically brought into scope for Insider Risk Management, enabling HR, compliance, and security to jointly review activity patterns and determine whether further action is needed.

Align security, compliance, and HR around a unified risk strategy

Insider risks touch multiple parts of the organization and require coordinated action. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management provides a shared platform where security, compliance, and HR teams can investigate and resolve insider threats together. With role-based access, anonymized user data, and built-in case management, everyone operates from the same set of facts while upholding privacy and governance standards. This collaboration leads to faster decisions, clearer accountability, and stronger protection across the board.

Dive deeper into the Purview family

Manage and govern on-premises, multicloud, and SaaS data and gain a bird's-eye view on your entire data estate.

Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention

Microsoft Purview Information Protection

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