Unify Your Data Defense With Egnyte, Microsoft Purview, and Netskope

Effective cybersecurity protection can be extremely complex, with new threats and concerns popping up daily. Organizations are beginning to take cybersecurity more seriously and understanding that sensitive data protection is of utmost importance. Multi-layered security programs, tools to prevent data loss, and solutions to facilitate compliance across the organization are just some of the strategies that security and IT teams use to respond to today's cybersecurity landscape. 

One of the best- and least expensive- strategies to combat cybersecurity is consistent data classification, a method for categorizing your most critical content or data based on the sensitivity of the information.

In this blog, you’ll learn how the powerful combination of Egnyte's content cloud collaboration platform, Microsoft Purview Information Protection (MPIP) sensitivity labels, and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), or Security Service Edge (SSE) solutions like Netskope work in unison to create a robust and unified defense against data exfiltration while leveraging the same technology to extend the reach and effectiveness of your data classification efforts,

The Power of Persistent Labeling with Egnyte and Microsoft Purview

The core of this integration lies in Egnyte's ability to import sensitivity labels directly from Microsoft Purview. These aren't just any labels but the same centrally managed labels your organization uses across the Microsoft ecosystem.

Egnyte leverages the integration by:

1. Importing Sensitivity Labels: Egnyte connects with your Microsoft Purview environment to bring in your existing sensitivity label taxonomy, ensuring consistency and avoiding the need to recreate or manage a separate set of labels within Egnyte.
2. Associating Labels with Content Classification: Egnyte's powerful content classification engine, which can identify sensitive data using pre-defined policies, AI-driven analysis, and customized rules, can be configured to associate specific Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels with different types of classified content. For example, a document identified as containing financial data can automatically receive the "Confidential - Finance" label imported from Purview.
3. Applying Persistent Labels: Most importantly, Egnyte applies these Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels as persistent metadata to the files stored within our platform. This means the label travels with the file, regardless of whether the file is moved, copied, or shared (within or outside of Egnyte, provided that the receiving system can interpret the labels). This persistence results in effective and lasting data protection.

Extending Protection with DLP/ZTNA/SSE Tools like Netskope

The true strength of this ecosystem approach becomes evident when other security solutions that understand Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels enter the picture. DLP, ZTNA, and SSE platforms, like Netskope, monitor and control data movement across networks, cloud applications, and endpoints.

When files managed by Egnyte and tagged with Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels are accessed or moved, tools like Netskope can:

• Recognize the Data Sensitivity Level: Netskope can read the persistent MPIP labels on files originating from or managed by Egnyte, providing immediate context about the data’s sensitivity without requiring Netskope to re-classify the file itself (though Netskope can perform its own inspection).
• Enforce Granular DLP Policies: Based on the sensitivity label ("Highly Confidential," "Internal Use Only," or "Public," for example), Netskope can enforce specific DLP policies. Use cases include the following:
  • Blocking uploading of a "Highly Confidential" file to an unsanctioned personal cloud storage service
  • Preventing sharing an "Internal Use Only" document via external email addresses
  • Encrypting or applying rights management to files with certain labels as they leave your corporate network
  • Alerting security teams to suspicious activity that involves labeled sensitive data
• Strengthen Zero Trust Posture: For ZTNA frameworks, the sensitivity label provides a vital input for data access decisions. Access to sensitive files can be dynamically controlled based on a user’s identity, device posture, location, and the data's classification (the MPIP label).
• Enhance SSE Capabilities: Within an SSE architecture, which combines cloud security services, the ability to uniformly recognize and act upon Microsoft Purview labels across web gateways, CASBs (Cloud Access Security Brokers), and ZTNA components ensures consistent policy enforcement and a holistic view of data risk.

Benefits of an Integrated Approach

Leveraging Egnyte's integration with Microsoft Purview Information Protection alongside tools like Netskope offers the following advantages:

• Unified Data Classification: Establishes a single source of truth for data sensitivity, ensuring that "Confidential" means the same thing in Egnyte as in Microsoft 365 and your Netskope DLP policies.
• Consistent Policy Enforcement: Enables security policies to be applied uniformly across different platforms and control points, reducing security gaps and the complexity of managing disparate policy-sets.
• Enhanced Data Exfiltration Prevention: By making data sensitivity explicit and readable by various security tools, organizations can more effectively identify and block unauthorized attempts to move sensitive information outside of secure perimeters.
• Streamlined Compliance: Simplifies compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which often require detailed data classification and protection measures. Consistent labeling and policy enforcement also provide clearer and more comprehensive audit trails.
• Improved Security Posture: This creates a more resilient security ecosystem where different tools work together, leveraging common data intelligence (sensitivity labels) to provide a layered defense.
• Secure Collaboration: This allows users to collaborate on sensitive content within Egnyte, knowing that the inherent sensitivity is clearly marked and can be acted upon by downstream security controls if the data is handled inappropriately.

Implement Data-Centric Security at Your Organization 

Integrating Egnyte and Microsoft Purview Information Protection is a significant step toward data-centric security. When combined with the capabilities of leading DLP, ZTNA, or SSE solutions like Netskope that recognize universal sensitivity labels, your organization can build a more cohesive, intelligent, and effective strategy to protect your data from exfiltration and misuse. With this approach, no matter where your data travels, you will have an effective data governance and security framework that will continue to protect your company’s most valuable asset, its data.

Want To Learn More?

See Egnyte’s DLP integration solutions in action in this detailed demo.