Communication compliance is a critical concept within Microsoft 365’s suite of compliance tools. Most notably applicable to the SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals exam, understanding communication compliance helps professionals navigate and administrate policies that monitor, detect, capture, and take appropriate action on inappropriate communications.
Communication compliance is essentially a tool used to minimize communication risks by assisting organizations in capturing communications that violate corporate policies. These could include data leakage, offensive language, or inappropriate sharing of sensitive information.
What is involved in Communication Compliance?
Managing Distinct Policies: Communication compliance leverages policies that can be specifically created and modified to suit specific compliance needs. Each policy defines particular conditions that checks messages against these policies. For example, a bank may set up a policy to detect any sharing of payment card Industry (PCI) or personally identifiable information (PII).
Users and groups: Administrators can define the users and groups that are subject to the communication compliance policy.
Conditions and actions: Administrators also define conditions that will trigger the policy and the subsequent actions that should be taken if a message violates any policy conditions. These actions could include sending an email notification to compliance officers or blocking sensitive information from being shared.
Resolving Alerts: Administrators and compliance officers can review and take appropriate action based on these alerts. Actions can include justifying the alert, marking it as false-positive, or escalating it for further investigation.
Hence, communication compliance functions are not just about flagging non-compliant behavior but also about prevention and education.
Examples of Communication Compliance
To illustrate communication compliance, let’s consider a practical case of sensitive data sharing.
- An organization operates in a financial regulatory environment, one that requires policies for detecting and handling communication containing sensitive financial data like credit card numbers.
- The communication compliance policy is set up defining the users or groups whose communications need to be monitored. For instance, the policy could be applied to the sales team.
- Parameters for suspicious activity are established. In this case, any message containing a string that resembles a credit card number would be classified as suspicious.
- Any breach of the policy triggers actions. These could be an immediate block on the message or sending a violation alert to the compliance team.
Understanding the Importance
It is worth noting the importance of communication compliance for organizations. Many industries operate within robust regulations that stipulate the handling of various forms of sensitive data. Firms in finance, healthcare, and more must adhere strictly to these regulations to avoid hefty penalties and reputational damage, and communication compliance is part of the solution.
In conclusion, communication compliance forms an integral part of the SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals, with its best-in-class tools and functionalities aimed at ensuring all communication remains compliant with both internal policies and external regulations. Organizations benefit from a comprehensive tool that not just helps detect non-compliant behavior but also focuses on proactive mitigation and education.
Practice Test
True or False: The Communication Compliance feature in Microsoft 365 assists organizations in detecting, capturing, and taking remediation actions for inappropriate messages.
- True
Answer: True.
Explanation: Communication Compliance in Microsoft 365 helps businesses identify, monitor, and manage a wide range of risks in organizational communications.
Which features are included in Communication Compliance?
- a) Automatic policies to identify violations.
- b) Manual policies to check messages for profanity.
- c) Supervisory review capabilities.
- d) Threat detection observing behavior.
Answer: a, c, d.
Explanation: Communication Compliance includes features for automatically creating policies to observe violations, features to review supervisor communications, and features for threat detection.
True or False: The Compliance center in Microsoft 365 can only be accessed by users in the Compliance Operator role.
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: The Compliance center can be accessed by users with a variety of roles such as Compliance Administrators, Compliance data administrators, and Compliance operators.
What type of messages can Communication Compliance screen in Microsoft 365?
- a) Teams messages.
- b) Skype for Business messages.
- c) Exchange email messages.
- d) All of the above.
Answer: d.
Explanation: Communication Compliance monitors violations in all types of communication, including Teams messages, Skype for Business messages, and Exchange email messages.
True or False: Communication Compliance can help an enterprise protect sensitive information.
- True
Answer: True.
Explanation: With its monitoring and regulating abilities, Communication Compliance aids in the protection of sensitive information in an organization.
Which of the following needs can Communication Compliance cater to?
- a) Risk Management.
- b) Data Governance.
- c) Compliance Management.
- d) All of the above.
Answer: d.
Explanation: Communication Compliance addresses needs such as Risk Management, Data Governance, and Compliance Management.
True or False: Communication Compliance only flags messages that violate set policies, but doesn’t provide a remediation workflow.
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Communication Compliance not only detects policy violations in messages but also provides a remediation workflow to resolve these incidents.
Which of the following is NOT a part of Communication Compliance workflow?
- a) Policy creation.
- b) Issue detection.
- c) Message encryption.
- d) Case investigation.
Answer: c.
Explanation: The Communication Compliance workflow includes policy creation, issue detection, and case investigation, but not message encryption.
True or False: Communication Compliance can solely be used to detect and monitor internal communications.
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Communication Compliance doesn’t just focus on internal communication. It can also help monitor and regulate communications with people outside the organization.
Who can set up Communication Compliance policies in an organization?
- a) Compliance administrators.
- b) Compliance data administrators.
- c) Compliance operators.
- d) All of the above.
Answer: d.
Explanation: Compliance administrators, Compliance data administrators, and Compliance operators all have the ability to set up Communication Compliance policies.
Interview Questions
What is communication compliance in Microsoft 365?
Communication compliance in Microsoft 365 is a solution that helps to minimize communication risks by assisting organizations to track, capture, and take remediation actions for inappropriate messages.
What types of communication risks can be reduced through compliance?
The types of communication risks that could be reduced include data leaks, offensive language, harassment, or communications that may not comply with regulations.
What kind of communications is scanned by Microsoft 365 communication compliance?
Microsoft 365 communication compliance can scan email communication, Microsoft Teams, third-party communications data, or other types of communication data that is imported to the system.
What are the types of Remediation Actions offered by Communication Compliance?
The type of remediation actions offered by Communication Compliance includes notifying the user, notifying the user’s manager, marking a message for review, and deleting a message.
What role can view the data and alerts in communication compliance?
People who have been assigned the Communication Compliance Admin or the Communication Compliance Data Admin role can view the data and alerts in communication compliance.
What is the role of AI in Microsoft 365 communication compliance?
AI in Microsoft 365 communication compliance helps in classifying and analysing the data to identify potential risk. It uses machine learning to detect inappropriate communication behaviors.
What are some types of issues that Microsoft 365 communication compliance can detect?
Microsoft 365 communication compliance can detect issues such as bullying and harassment, threats, data leakage, fraud and inappropriate behaviour.
Can all organisations use Microsoft 365 communication compliance?
Yes, all organisations, big or small, can use Microsoft 365 communication compliance. It is not industry-specific and can be utilized by any organisation to ensure compliant communication.
Are communication compliance features available in all Microsoft 365 subscriptions?
Not all Microsoft 365 subscriptions have communication compliance features. They are included in Microsoft 365 E5 and E5 Compliance subscriptions.
Can the communication compliance feature in Microsoft 365 detect communication in different languages?
Yes, Microsoft 365 communication compliance supports multiple languages and can detect policy violations across different languages.
What does the built-in anomaly detection do in the communication compliance feature?
The built-in anomaly detection helps to uncover unusual spikes in the number or severity of policy violations that might indicate a coordinated or particularly serious compliance risk.
How can automatic remediation processes help in communication compliance?
Automatic remediation processes can help organizations to respond quickly to violations by taking immediate action, such as deleting a message or notifying the sender or their manager about a breach.
Can we use communication compliance to help protect sensitive data and prevent leaks?
Yes, communication compliance can be used to detect and prevent the unauthorized sharing of sensitive data like credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other confidential information.
What data sources are supported by communication compliance in Microsoft 365 compliance center?
Communication compliance supports several data sources such as Exchange email, Teams chats and channel messages, Skype for Business Online, and third-party data from Bloomberg and others.
What is the potential risk of not having a communication compliance strategy?
Without a communication compliance strategy, organizations potentially expose themselves to risks such as data breaches, regulatory penalties, and damage to their reputation.