Installed on Windows Server, it looks through SharePoint Server libraries plus SMB or NFS file shares, labelling and encrypting what it discovers there and enforcing DLP policies on-premises. It can't be pointed at OneDrive.
Also called Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Information protection scanner in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- SharePoint Server
The on-premises edition of SharePoint. Its document libraries can be scanned by the information protection scanner to discover, label and protect files; OneDrive is out of the scanner's reach.
- SMB
Protocol for Windows file shares, used by Azure Files and supporting authentication based on identity.
- NFS
Network File System, a file-sharing protocol from the Unix world, available on Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files and Blob Storage (as NFSv3).
- Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention
Policies in Purview that look for sensitivity labels or sensitive information types in content held in many places, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, and respond by auditing, warning or blocking. You can simulate a policy before enforcing it.
Related terms
- Content scan job
The settings for the information protection scanner, set up in the Purview portal under a scanner cluster, that list which repositories to scan (SharePoint Server libraries or file shares) and which DLP and labelling settings to use.