Information Barriers: Sharepoint
Overview
Information Barriers (IB), part of Microsoft Purview, are compliance policies designed to restrict communication and collaboration between specific users or groups within Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and other Microsoft 365 services. These policies are especially useful for regulated industries to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure that sensitive information does not cross organizational boundaries.
Key Capabilities of Information Barriers in SharePoint and OneDrive
Segmentation and Access Control:
Users are assigned segments (like “HR” or “Sales”), which dictate who they can interact with across SharePoint or OneDrive.
IB policies can block users from accessing sites, adding members, or sharing content across segments.
Modes of IB Policies:
Explicit Mode: Users can only access content if they belong to the same segment as the site.
Mixed Mode: Allows more flexible access for specific users or segments.
Owner Moderated Mode: Site owners can grant access to users from otherwise restricted segments.
Global Management:
Administrators (Global or SharePoint) can create and manage segments and IB policies using PowerShell.
IB policies apply uniformly across SharePoint and OneDrive; enabling IB for one automatically applies it to both.
Restrictions in Legacy vs. Modern Modes:
In Legacy mode, organizations are limited to 250 segments with users allowed only one segment assignment.
In modern multi-segment mode, up to 5,000 segments are supported, with users able to belong to multiple segments, providing more flexibility.
IB Policy Enforcement:
Changes to IB policies (like adding or removing segments) may take up to 24 hours to propagate across the system.
For organizations needing enhanced visibility and compliance management, Microsoft Purview compliance reports help monitor IB policy effectiveness.
These barriers enhance both security and compliance by ensuring that unauthorized collaboration or data sharing is blocked automatically.
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