“Excuse me, sir – all electronics out of your bag.”

We’ve all been there. Shuffling through airport security, nervously fumbling with a half-empty bottle of water you forgot to bin. You know the rules: nothing over 100ml, no sharp objects, and certainly no medieval weaponry - I don’t care if your name’s Robin Hood, you’re not bringing a bow and arrow onto a plane.

Airports are the only places where I’ll willingly surrender my toothpaste without a fight. But beyond confiscating shampoo and spritzing panic sweat, airports serve a serious purpose - keeping us safe. They’re designed to detect and prevent dangerous items from boarding. And while this might seem like a far cry from Microsoft 365 and data protection, stay with me - the parallels are stronger than you think.

If Microsoft 365 had its own airport, it’d be called Bearded International. Why? Because much like airport security, Microsoft 365 has layers of protection in place to prevent harmful data from sneaking out unnoticed. And in this blog, I’m going to show you how three core technologies - Sensitive Information Types, Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and Sensitivity Labels - work together to guard your business like Heathrow guards the runway.

1. Sensitive Information Types – The Airport Rules

Let’s start at the check-in desk.

Every airport, airline, and international security agency has a list of things you can and can’t bring on board. That list is your baseline. In Microsoft 365, that baseline is called Sensitive Information Types (SITs).

These are the identifiers that define what’s considered "sensitive" within your organisation. Think credit card numbers, National Insurance numbers, or client case files. Microsoft 365 comes with loads of prebuilt SITs – like Belgian driving licences or Austrian passport numbers – but you can also create your own to suit your business.

For example, if you're a law firm, you might want to protect case references. An accountancy? Payroll spreadsheets. You define what matters to your business, and SITs make sure those items are flagged before they make it to the departure lounge.

You build these SITs using patterns – a combination of keywords, character strings, and proximity logic that Microsoft uses to recognise data you want to keep under wraps. You're essentially teaching your digital border patrol what to look for.

2. Data Loss Prevention – The Baggage Scanner

Next up - security screening.

This is where Data Loss Prevention (DLP) steps in. Think of it as the baggage scanner of your digital airport. It scans every file, email, and Teams message that’s trying to leave the building. And if it detects a restricted item (say, a credit card number you’ve marked as sensitive), it throws up an alert or stops it in its tracks.

Setting this up in Microsoft Purview involves creating a DLP policy. You tell the system what you’re protecting (e.g. credit card numbers), where to watch (email, SharePoint, OneDrive etc.), and what to do if something dodgy turns up (block, alert, notify, encrypt - your call).

You can even set simulation mode while you fine-tune the policy. This way, your team can still share data, but you’ll get reports telling you when a rule would have triggered. It’s like running drills before deploying the full metal detectors.

And yes, if someone tries to send sensitive data, you can notify them with a customised policy tip - a little educational nudge. “Oi, Dave – you probably shouldn’t email a payroll sheet to your personal Gmail.”

You can also let users override rules (if you trust them) and notify the security officer (or IT lead) when someone tries to smuggle data out under the radar.

3. Sensitivity Labels – Priority Tags and Fragile Stickers

You’ve checked in. Your bags have been scanned. But before they’re loaded, they might get a sticker slapped on them.

"Priority" for business class. "Fragile" for anything breakable. "Oversized" for golf clubs, or emotional baggage.

In Microsoft 365, those stickers are Sensitivity Labels. They travel with your files and emails and dictate how they should be handled - encrypt this, restrict that, watermark the other. A document tagged as “Highly Confidential” will have different protections than one labelled “Public”.

It’s another layer of protection. If SITs are the rules, and DLP is the scanner, Sensitivity Labels are the tags telling the system (and the humans) how to treat each piece of data.

Wrapping It Up – From Check-In to Takeoff

So yes, you came here for data protection, not a Heathrow-themed rant. But hopefully you now see how Microsoft 365’s data protection tools form a cohesive system - much like airport security.

• Sensitive Information Types decide what should and shouldn’t leave the premises.

• DLP Policies scan every route out of your organisation for restricted content.

• Sensitivity Labels mark your items with “handle with care” instructions.

Together, they create a digital fortress around your organisation's data, ensuring that nothing sensitive gets shared by accident – or on purpose.

Just like no one’s getting on that plane with a litre of Listerine and a katana.

✈️ Want help securing your Microsoft 365 environment before your data flies the coop?
Visit bearded365guy.com for more info, videos, and hands-on support. Or give me a shout on LinkedIn.

Safe travels. Safe data.