What is Azure Information Protection?

Note

Are you looking for Microsoft Purview Information Protection, formerly Microsoft Information Protection (MIP)?

The Azure Information Protection unified labeling client is now in maintenance mode. We recommend you use labels that are built in to your Office 365 apps and services. Learn more

Azure Information Protection (AIP) is a cloud-based solution that enables organizations to discover, classify, and protect documents and emails by applying labels to content.

AIP is part of Microsoft Purview Information Protection (formerly Microsoft Information Protection or MIP), and extends the labeling and classification functionality provided by Microsoft Purview.

The following image shows the Azure Information Protection additions to Microsoft Purview Information Protection, including the unified labeling client, scanner, and SDK.

Microsoft Purview Information Protection is the common information protection stack that's leveraged by AIP's unified labeling client. For more information, see the Microsoft Purview documentation.

AIP unified labeling client

The Azure Information Protection unified labeling client extends labeling, classification, and protection capabilities to additional file types, as well as to File Explorer and PowerShell.

For example, in File Explorer, right-click one or more files and select Classify and protect to manage the AIP functionality on the selected files.

Download the client from the Microsoft Azure Information Protection download page.

AIP on-premises scanner

The Azure Information Protection on-premises scanner enables administrators to scan their on-premises file repositories for sensitive content that must be labeled, classified, and/or protected.

The on-premises scanner is installed using PowerShell cmdlets provided as part of the unified labeling client, and can be managed using PowerShell and the Azure Information Protection area in the Azure portal.

For example, use the scanner data shown on the Azure portal to find repositories on your network that might have sensitive content at risk:

For more information, see:

• What is the AIP unified labeling scanner?
• The scanner sections of the AIP unified labeling client - Version release history

Download the scanner installation together with the client from the Microsoft Azure Information Protection download page.

Microsoft Information Protection SDK

The Microsoft Information Protection SDK extends sensitivity labels to third-party apps and services. Developers can use the SDK to build built-in support for applying labels and protection to files.

For example, you might use the MIP SDK for:

• A line-of-business application that applies classification labels to files on export.
• A CAD/CAM design application provides built-in support for Microsoft Purview Information Protection labeling.
• A cloud access security broker or data loss prevention solution reasons over data encrypted with Azure Information Protection.

For more information, see the Microsoft Information Protection SDK overview.

Next steps

To get started with AIP, download and install the unified labeling client and scanner.

• Sign up for a free trial (Enterprise Mobility + Security E5)
• Download the client
• Quickstart: Deploy the unified labeling client

Get familiar with AIP using our initial tutorials:

• Tutorial: Installing the Azure Information Protection (AIP) unified labeling scanner
• Tutorial: Finding your sensitive content with the Azure Information Protection (AIP) scanner
• Tutorial: Preventing oversharing in Outlook using Azure Information Protection (AIP)

When you're ready to customize AIP further, see Admin Guide: Custom configurations for the Azure Information Protection unified labeling client.

To get started with the MIP SDK, see Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) SDK setup and configuration.

Additional resources

Resource	Links and description
Subscription options and licensing guidance	Microsoft 365 licensing guidance for security & compliance
FAQs and known issues	Frequently asked questions for Azure Information Protection Known issues - Azure Information Protection
Support options	Support options for Azure Information Protection
Yammer	Information protection team
Release management and supportability	Learn about the content included in each version of the Azure Information Protection client. See also: - What's new in Microsoft Purview risk and compliance solutions - Protect your sensitive data with Microsoft Purview - The Microsoft 365 roadmap

Top Ignite sessions

See the following recorded sessions from Ignite 2020:

• Supercharge information protection and governance across cloud, on-premise, endpoints and remote work environments | Ask the expert

• Be a risk management hero with intelligent data protection and compliance solutions | Ask the expert session 1 | Ask the expert session 2

• Know your data, protect your data and prevent data loss with Microsoft Information Protection

• Ask anything about Microsoft Compliance: information protection & governance, insider risks, Compliance Management, and more: Ask the expert session 1 | Ask the expert session 2