We constantly see leaks of upcoming products and services that somehow find their way to the internet. Many of these leaks likely come from one or more people inside the business. Today, Microsoft announced a new way to secure documents made via Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps with an advanced watermarking method.
In a post on the Microsoft 365 Insider site, the company announced what it calls dynamic watermarking for its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for Windows, Mac, and the web. The feature is specifically made for businesses that have bought a license for sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365.
The blog post states that while sensitivity labels on documents can help restrict who has access to these files, it doesn't prevent people from taking images of these files from a computer screen or sharing a presentation with someone online. It added:
This loophole presents a simple way to bypass the protections that sensitivity labels place on a document. Dynamic watermarking can be a potent weapon in combatting these kinds of leaks.
This new feature adds a watermark whenever a sensitivity label is placed on a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document. Microsoft says:
When you open a file protected with a sensitivity label that has the dynamic watermarking setting enabled, you will see tiled watermarks superimposed across the file content. These watermarks will contain the email address for the account you’re using to view the file.
Users will still be able to read, edit, and collaborate with others on a document with dynamic watermarks, but they won't be able to get rid of them unless they are granted special permissions to do so. Anyone who tries to access a file with dynamic watermarks in a version of Microsoft 365 that does not support the feature will instead see an "access denied" message.
The feature is currently available on the web versions of these apps, along with Current Channel Preview users that have Windows Version 2408 (Build 17425.20046) or later and on Mac Version 16.87 (Build 24070110) or later. There's no word on when this will reach general availability.
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