In Purview, how can you auto-apply sensitivity labels based on a defined text string in file names?

Paul Chasnoff 40

With Purview we are using sensitivity labels. In the past (pre-sensitivity labeling for us) we used a project code as part of the file name that would indicate the file's sensitivity. Now that we are using Purview, we would like to automate the process and take advantage of sensitivity labeling benefits. I have tried (and failed) to create a Sensitive Information Type (SIT) as a Classifier to identify the files based on the project code in the file name:

Pattern #1

Primary element

Keyword list:VRS

Character proximity

Detect primary AND supporting elements within 300 characters

Our users are very accustomed to adding the code as part of the file name and wish to continue doing that.

I appreciate any help.

Smaran Thoomu 18,965 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-12-13T09:50:59.0566667+00:00
Hi @Paul Chasnoff

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A platform and thanks for posting your query here.

It's great to see that you're interested in using Purview's sensitivity labeling to automate the process based on file names. Here's how you can achieve this:

Using Sensitive Information Types (SITs) in Purview: To auto-apply sensitivity labels based on specific text strings (like your project codes) in file names, follow these steps:

Define a Custom Sensitive Information Type (SIT): In Microsoft Purview, you can create a custom SIT to detect your project codes in file names. Here's an example of how to configure it: Primary Element: Use a Keyword List containing the project codes (e.g., "VRS"). Character Proximity: You don't need to configure proximity for this use case, as the code in the file name itself is sufficient.

Create an Auto Labelling policy: Go to Information protection>Auto labeling. Create a new policy and select the SIT you created and then define the conditions to apply the sensitivity label when the SIT is detected in the file name.

Apply the Policy: Run the policy in simulation mode first to ensure it correctly identifies the files. Once verified, enable the policy to start auto applying the sensitivity labels.

For more information, please refer the below links:

Automatically apply a sensitivity label

How to automatically apply sensitivity labels to your data in the Microsoft Purview

How to automatically apply sensitivity labels to all documents in a Team

Video - Automatically Apply Sensitive Labels

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.

Please do consider to upvote the comment wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members for remediation for similar issues.
Paul Chasnoff 40 Reputation points

2024-12-14T04:03:02.7433333+00:00

Hi @Smaran Thoomu

I defined a Custom Sensitive Information Type:

I then did a file upload test:

The test result showed that it does not consider the file to meet the specification:

I went ahead and tried an auto labeling rule and ran a simulation. It confirmed that it did not find any files with the SIT:

I appreciate any observations and additional thoughts.
Smaran Thoomu 18,965 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-12-16T17:33:34.63+00:00

@Paul Chasnoff I agree that this issue looks strange and I wasn't able to reproduce this issue. If you have a support plan, could you please file a support ticket for deeper investigation and do share the SR# with us? In case if you don't have a support plan, please let us know here.
Smaran Thoomu 18,965 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-12-17T10:22:42.4566667+00:00

@Paul Chasnoff We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Paul Chasnoff 40 Reputation points

2024-12-18T04:59:42.4433333+00:00

@Smaran Thoomu I do not have a support plan, but I could open a ticket. Do you know a way other than creating an SIT to accomplish what I am trying to do?
Smaran Thoomu 18,965 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-12-18T06:54:40.21+00:00

@Paul Chasnoff Thank you for your follow-up and for sharing the detailed steps you’ve taken. It seems like the issue may require a deeper investigation to identify what’s causing the SIT to not work as expected in your scenario.

Since you mentioned you could open a support ticket, I’d recommend doing so. The support team will be able to assist you in detail and help troubleshoot this further. Please do share the SR# with us once created, and I’ll make sure to monitor the case for any updates.

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to let me know.

Best regards,

Smaran

Accepted answer

Clément BETACORNE 2,496 Reputation points

2025-01-07T13:46:55.0766667+00:00

Hi @Paul Chasnoff To do what you expect on file names I think you should explore auto-labeling. Below an example of an auto-labeling rule for SharePoint Online
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Paul Chasnoff 40 Reputation points

2025-01-07T20:16:14.7433333+00:00

Hi @Clément BETACORNE,

Thank you. I found that using a SIT was not the best way to approach the project. A much simpler way was, as you suggested, to use Auto-labeling and create an auto-label policy with a simple rule using:

Conditions Document name contains words or phrases

VRS

Clément BETACORNE 2,496 Reputation points

2025-01-08T08:06:38.7833333+00:00

Hi @Paul Chasnoff Great news, I don't know if you need to mark something as answered or not ?
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