Design a strategy that balances innovation and security for AI in education. Learn how securing AI applications with Microsoft tools can help.
Schools and higher education institutions worldwide are introducing AI to help their students and staff create solutions and develop innovative AI skills. As your institution expands its AI capabilities, it’s essential to design a strategy that balances innovation and security. That balance can be achieved using tools like Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft Intune, which prioritize protecting sensitive data and securing AI applications.
The principles of Trustworthy AI—fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability—are central to Microsoft Security’s approach. Security teams can use these principles to prepare for AI implementation. Watch the video to learn how Microsoft Security builds a trustworthy foundation for developing and using AI.
Microsoft runs on trust, and trust must be earned and maintained. Our pledge to our customers and our community is to prioritize your cyber safety above all else.
Charlie Bell, Executive Vice President Security, Microsoft
Gain visibility into AI usage and find associated risks
Introducing generative AI into educational institutions offers tremendous opportunities to transform the way students learn. With that comes potential risks, such as sensitive data exposure and improper AI interactions. Purview offers comprehensive insights into user activities within Microsoft Copilot. Here’s how Purview helps you manage these risks:
Cloud native: Manage and deliver protection in Microsoft 365 apps, services, and Windows endpoints.
Unified: Enforce policy controls and manage policies from a single location.
Integrated: Classify roles, apply data loss prevention (DLP) policies, and incorporate incident management.
Simplified: Get started quickly with pre-built policies and migration tools.
Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management for AI (DSPM for AI) offers a centralized platform to efficiently secure data used in AI applications and proactively monitor AI usage. This service includes Microsoft 365 Copilot, other Microsoft copilots, and third-party AI applications. DSPM for AI provides features designed to help you safely adopt AI while maintaining productivity or protection:
Gain insights and analytics into AI activity within your organization.
Use ready-to-implement policies to protect data and prevent loss in AI interactions.
Conduct data assessments to identify, remediate, and monitor potential data oversharing.
Apply compliance controls for optimal data handling and storage practices.
Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management for AI provides real-time insights and analytics and compliance controls for AI adoption.
Purview offers real-time AI activity monitoring, enabling quick resolution of security concerns.
Protect your institution’s sensitive data
Educational institutions are trusted with vast amounts of sensitive data. To maintain trust, they must overcome several unique challenges, including managing sensitive student and staff data and retaining historical records for alumni and former employees. These complexities increase the risk of cyberthreats, making a data lifecycle management plan critical.
Microsoft Entra ID enables you to control access to sensitive information. For instance, if an unauthorized user attempts to retrieve sensitive data, Copilot will block access, safeguarding student and staff data. Here are key features that help protect your data:
Understand and govern data: Manage visibility and governance of data assets across your environment.
Safeguard data, wherever it lives: Protect sensitive data across clouds, apps, and devices.
Improve risk and compliance posture: Identify data risks and meet regulatory compliance requirements.
Microsoft Entra Conditional Access is integral to this process to safeguard data by ensuring only authorized users access the information they need. With Microsoft Entra Conditional Access, you can create policies for generative AI apps like Copilot or ChatGPT, allowing access only to users on compliant devices who accept the Terms of Use.
Implement Zero Trust for AI security
In the AI era, Zero Trust is essential for protecting employees, devices, and data by minimizing threats. This security framework requires that all users—inside or outside your network—are authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated before accessing applications and data. Enforcing security policies at the endpoint is key to implementing Zero Trust across your organization. A strong endpoint management strategy enhances AI language models and improves security and productivity.
Before you introduce Microsoft 365 Copilot into your environment, Microsoft recommends that you build a strong foundation of security. Fortunately, guidance for a strong security foundation exists in the form of Zero Trust. The Zero Trust security strategy treats each connection and resource request as though it originated from an uncontrolled network and a bad actor. Regardless of where the request originates or what resource it accesses, Zero Trust teaches us to “never trust, always verify.”
Read “How do I apply Zero Trust principles to Microsoft 365 Copilot” for steps to apply the principles of Zero Trust security to prepare your environment for Copilot.
Microsoft 365 Copilot responses bring Microsoft Graph data into commonly used Microsoft 365 apps.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint work together to give you visibility and control of your data and devices. These tools let you block or warn users about risky cloud apps. Unsanctioned apps are automatically synced and blocked across endpoint devices through Microsoft Defender Antivirus within the Network Protection service level agreement (SLA). Key features include:
Triage and investigation – Gain detailed alert descriptions and context, investigate device activity with full timelines, and access robust data and analysis tools to expand the breach scope.
Incident narrative – Reconstruct the broader attack story by merging relevant alerts, reducing investigative effort, and improving incident scope and fidelity.
Threat analytics – Monitor your threat posture with interactive reports, identify unprotected systems in real-time, and receive actionable guidance to enhance security resilience and address emerging threats.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint uses Zero Trust principles to get your devices AI-ready.
Using Microsoft Intune, you can restrict the use of work apps like Microsoft 365 Copilot on personal devices or implement app protection policies to prevent data leakage and limit actions such as saving files to unsecured apps. All work content, including that generated by Copilot, can be wiped if the device is lost or disassociated from the company, with these measures running in the background requiring only user logon.
Assess your AI readiness
Evaluating your readiness for AI transformation can be complex. Taking a strategic approach helps you evaluate your capabilities, identify areas for improvement, and align with your priorities to maximum value.
The AI Readiness Wizard is designed to guide you through this process. Use the assessment to:
Evaluate your current state.
Identify gaps in your AI strategy.
Plan actionable next steps.
This structured assessment helps you reflect on your current practices and identify key areas to prioritize as you shape your strategy. You’ll also find resources at every stage to help you advance and support your progress.
As your AI program evolves, prioritizing security and compliance from the start is essential. Microsoft tools such as Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft Intune help ensure your AI applications and data are innovative, secure, and trustworthy by design. Get started with the next step in securing your AI future by using the AI Readiness Wizard to evaluate your current preparedness and develop a strategy for successful AI implementation. Get started with Microsoft Security to build a secure, trustworthy AI program that empowers your students and staff.
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