Azure Information Protection P1 vs P2: A Comprehensive Comparison Guide

Azure Information Protection (AIP) is a robust solution for data protection, and choosing the right plan can be a bit overwhelming. AIP P1 is a more basic plan that provides essential features for data protection, while AIP P2 is a more advanced plan that offers additional features and capabilities.

One key difference between AIP P1 and P2 is the number of users that can be protected. AIP P1 supports up to 5 users, while AIP P2 supports up to 500,000 users.

AIP P1 is ideal for small businesses or organizations with limited data protection needs, while AIP P2 is better suited for larger enterprises with more complex data protection requirements.

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Azure Information Protection plans are designed to help organizations protect their sensitive data, and there are three main plans to choose from: Azure Information Protection for Office 365, Azure Information Protection Premium P1, and Azure Information Protection Premium P2.

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Azure Information Protection for Office 365 is included for free with Office 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 plans, providing features like encryption protection for email and documents in Office 365 and on-premises Exchange and SharePoint.

This plan also includes integrated security with Office apps and access to administrator AIP controls, such as usage logging and bulk add/removal of file protection.

Azure Information Protection Premium P1 is available as an add-on license for $2 per user, per month, and includes all the features of the Azure Information Protection for Office 365 plan, plus additional features like the AIP scanner to find sensitive data in on-premises platforms.

Azure Information Protection Premium P2 is also available as an add-on license, but for $5 per user, per month, and includes all the features of the Azure Information Protection for Office 365 and AIP Premium Plan P1 subscriptions, plus more advanced features like automatic and recommended classification.

Here are the key differences between Azure Information Protection Premium P1 and P2 plans:

Azure Information Protection Premium P2 plan also includes additional features like tracking and revoking shared documents, protection of file formats outside of Microsoft Office, and on-premises discovery of sensitive data.

Active Directory has some restrictions, even though it works well. For instance, adding a new cloud storage repository for users' files or adding new documents as attachments to incoming emails can cause issues.

These limitations raise questions about designations and rights, and how to manually assign privileges and directories to thousands of daily incoming files. Azure Information Protection provides an additional layer of protection, which is most useful within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, including Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.

Azure Information Protection helps address these issues by providing a more flexible solution. IT administrators can prepare their organization to use Azure Information Protection by focusing on four key areas.

To use Azure Information Protection, IT administrators must be aware of the licensing requirements and pricing. Microsoft sells two Azure Information Protection subscription plans: AIP Premium P1 and AIP Premium P2.

Here's a summary of the pricing options:

Azure Information Protection (AIP) provides enhanced compliance with legal and regulatory standards, including GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS. Organizations can classify and safeguard sensitive data in a way that complies with these criteria and upholds data privacy by utilizing AIP.

AIP can protect various data types, including documents, emails, images, audio and video files, and data stored in cloud services. Users can label these files with data to indicate their level of sensitivity, and AIP can implement security measures based on the labeling regulations.

Azure Information Protection can safeguard sensitive data in a way that complies with industry and governmental standards, including GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS. This helps organizations reduce the risk of human mistakes and data breaches, and ensures compliance with rules.

IRM (Information Rights Management) allows SharePoint site owners to apply permissions on different libraries and lists, ensuring that uploaded files remain secure according to IRM rules. The IRM predefined group includes Read and Change permissions, where users with Read permission have View rights, and users with Change permission have View, Edit, Extract, and Save rights.

IRM permissions are as follows:

Compliance with laws and regulations is a top priority for businesses, and Azure Information Protection (AIP) can help with that.

AIP complies with industry and governmental standards, including GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS, making it a reliable choice for organizations.

By utilizing AIP, organizations can classify and safeguard sensitive data, ensuring data privacy and adhering to regulatory requirements.

AIP automatically develops and implements policies, applying data protection labels and control, which reduces the risk of human errors and data breaches.

Organizations can also use AIP to apply permissions on different libraries and lists in SharePoint, keeping files secure as per IRM rules.

Here's a breakdown of IRM predefined groups and their corresponding permissions:

By using AIP and IRM, organizations can ensure compliance with regulations and protect sensitive data, giving them peace of mind and a secure environment for their business to thrive.

Data monitoring and auditing are crucial for ensuring the security and compliance of your organization's data. Azure Information Protection (AIP) offers a range of tools to help you achieve this.

You can use Azure Monitor for centralized monitoring, which allows you to track and analyze data usage across your entire Azure infrastructure. This can help you spot potential security incidents.

Azure Log Analytics is another powerful tool that enables advanced analytics and visualization techniques to examine audit logs and discover more about data utilization. You can use it to spot abnormalities and track important metrics.

Azure Sentinel is a cloud-native security information and event management (SIEM) tool that helps you find and react to security incidents. Integrating Azure Information Protection with Azure Sentinel can provide real-time insight into data consumption.

The Azure Information Protection Scanner is a powerful tool that can scan an organization's file shares and identify sensitive data that needs to be protected. This ensures that all sensitive data is appropriately identified and safeguarded.

Here are the key tools for monitoring and auditing data with Azure Information Protection:

Protecting documents with Microsoft labels is a crucial aspect of compliance and security. You can use Azure Information Protection (AIP) to safeguard various data types, including documents, emails, images, audio and video files, and data stored in cloud services.

With AIP, you can label documents with data to indicate their level of sensitivity, and implement security measures based on the labeling regulations. For example, you can use the Restricted label to protect sensitive information with the highest level of security protection.

AIP allows you to configure automatic data protection for classified documents by creating a new Azure RMS Template. This template can be used to define the rights, scope, and optional configurations for protecting sensitive information.

You can also create custom permissions in AIP, such as Highest, High, Moderate, Lowest, and Nil. These permissions can be used to define the level of security protection for different types of documents.

Here are some common labels that can be used to classify the nature of documents:

By using AIP labels, you can ensure that sensitive information is protected with the highest level of security protection, and that only authorized users have access to it.

Norwegian National ID Numbers are highly sensitive and should not be shared in documents and emails due to their use in personal identification and official authentication scenarios.

In Norway, the National ID Number is a unique identifier used for personal identification, which makes it a sensitive piece of information that requires protection.

Azure Information Protection can automatically detect and classify documents that contain the Norwegian National ID Number, providing an extra layer of security.

This classification is a crucial step in protecting sensitive information, and it can be configured to apply specific permissions and encryption to the classified documents.

With Azure Rights Management Services (RMS), it's possible to automatically apply a RMS template that encrypts and sets permissions for the classified documents containing the Norwegian National ID Number.

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Azure Information Protection (AIP) can safeguard various data types, including documents, emails, images, audio and video files, and data stored in cloud services like Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint.

AIP can protect documents, including text files, PDFs, and Microsoft Office documents, by labeling them with data to indicate their level of sensitivity and implementing security measures based on the labeling regulations.

Users can apply data labels to emails in Microsoft Exchange to identify their level of sensitivity and implement protective rules based on the labeling policies.

AIP can secure images by adding watermarks or limiting user access, and audio and video files can be encrypted or have access limited to the files.

Here is a list of the data types that can be protected with AIP:

AIP can also safeguard data in cloud services, such as Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint, by applying data labels to indicate the sensitivity level and implementing protective mechanisms based on the labeling policies.

Azure Information Protection (AIP) can safeguard various data types, including documents, emails, images, audio and video files, and data stored in cloud services.

AIP can protect documents in various formats, such as text files, PDFs, and Microsoft Office documents.

Users can label these documents with data to indicate their level of sensitivity, and AIP can implement security measures based on the labeling regulations.

AIP can also secure emails sent and received through Microsoft Exchange, with users applying data labels to identify the level of sensitivity and AIP implementing protective rules based on the labeling policies.

Images, including pictures and photos, can be secured by adding watermarks or limiting user access.

Audio and video files can be encrypted or have access limited, with users labeling these files with data to indicate their level of sensitivity.

Data stored in cloud services, such as Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint, can be safeguarded by AIP, with users indicating the sensitivity level of the data through data labels.

Here are some specific data types that AIP can protect:

Azure Information Protection (AIP) offers three subscription plans: Azure Information Protection for Office 365, Azure Information Protection Premium P1, and Azure Information Protection Premium P2.

These plans are designed to provide varying levels of data protection features, catering to different business needs. The free account option is available for individuals who need to access AIP-protected content by entering their work email address.

Microsoft includes the Azure Information Protection for Office 365 plan for free for enterprises that subscribe to the Office 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 plans. With these subscriptions, AIP features include encryption protection for email and documents both in Office 365 and in on-premises Exchange and SharePoint.

Here's a comparison of the three plans:

The AIP Premium P1 plan is available as an add-on license for $2 per user, per month, and includes all the features in the Azure Information Protection for Office 365 plan, plus additional features like the AIP scanner to find sensitive data in on-premises platforms.

To configure data protection, you'll need to create a new Azure RMS Template. This must be done in the old Azure Portal at manage.windowsazure.com, under your Azure Active Directory and Rights Management settings.

You can create a new template by specifying language, name, and description for the new template. For example, you can create a template for protecting documents that are classified as Restricted.

The new RMS template can be configured with rights, scope, and optional configurations. Under Rights, you can add groups from your organization and configure a Rights role of Viewer.

The Viewer Role can have custom rights, such as restricting sharing for Restricted Sensitive Information. You can define the scope of the RMS template, which defines who in your organization can apply this template.

The configuration section allows you to choose to Publish the template, change settings for additional languages, content expiration, and offline access. You can also select a new RMS template from the dropdown menu in Azure Information Protection.

To configure protection settings for your classification label, select the new RMS template from the dropdown menu and hit Save. Then, publish the policy to apply the protection settings.

Here's a summary of the RMS template configuration options: