Safe Computing

Data Loss Prevention

Data Loss Prevention technology and personal responsibility

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) technology provides an extra safeguard against the sharing of sensitive information. Being aware of the information you share through email or via other IT tools is important to the cyber safety of our campus and UM System. You should only share personal or protected information if it is intentional, authorized, and encrypted. This includes:

  • Social Security Numbers
  • Protected Health Information
  • Credit card or banking information
  • Data that is classified as personal or protected

The responsibility lies with each of us to protect our university's sensitive information, and with the Data Loss Prevention technology, you will receive a notice when you send an unencrypted message containing sensitive information to someone outside the university, or if sensitive information is detected on your OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint files.

Although the new DLP technology provides an extra line of data security, it's still your obligation to follow university information security policies and share information responsibly. Not following the university information policies may result in damages to both the university and to you that could be legally and personally impactful.

Sharing sensitive information via email

When sharing information via email you have the option to encrypt the message manually. If you send a message that includes sensitive information to someone outside the university and don't encrypt the email, the DLP tool will detect the data, encrypt the message and notify you. The recipient will need to log in to view the message securely.

Learn how you can encrypt your data>> (COMING SOON)

Sharing sensitive information via SharePoint/Teams/OneDrive

If you store sensitive information in files on SharePoint, Teams, or OneDrive, the DLP tool will detect it and send you an email notification. The ability to use the “Anyone with the link” option will be disabled. You will still be able to store and access the files with sensitive information, but your ability to share will be limited to the UM System domain only.

For questions regarding DLP, please visit the UM System Security Team's page about Data Loss Prevention for more information or email security@mst.edu.