Securing Data with Microsoft Purview IRM + Defender: A Hands-On Lab

Thanks so much, Ankit! Really appreciate the thoughtful breakdown.

You nailed it—the lab was designed to show how Purview and Defender complement each other across governance and response. We started with accidental leakage scenarios (like mass downloads or external sharing) and gradually introduced more complex insider threat patterns.

For thresholds, I focused on simulating:

• Unusual download spikes within short time windows
• Access from risky or non-corporate domains
• Time-based anomalies, such as logins outside working hours

Alerts were linked to Defender via the Microsoft 365 Defender portal, using incident correlation to unify the view. That way, Purview triage flows into Defender’s automated response and can escalate to SIEM/SOAR if needed.

I especially liked your point about awareness training—we’re exploring how low-level alerts can trigger adaptive messaging or training modules before escalation. Would be great to hear how others are handling that balance between detection and privacy.