Microsoft discontinues Windows Information Protection in favor of Purview

Windows Information Protection (WIP) - previously known as enterprise data protection (EDP) - is a Microsoft product designed to prevent accidental information leakage at companies. Microsoft has repeatedly emphasized that WIP should not be use as the line of defense against malicious insiders, rather it is just a tool meant to prevent accidental leakage through personal email accounts, public cloud storage, or social media platforms, without hampering the overall employee experience. Today, the firm has announced that it is discontinuing WIP in favor of Purview.

If you have followed our previous coverage of Purview, you probably know that the data governance platform offers a bunch of capabilities, including Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP). As such, it does have significant overlap with WIP's functionalities, which is probably why Microsoft is phasing out its older product in favor of a new one that it regularly updates.

Purview leverages state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers to protect against a number of undesirable enterprise scenarios including accidental data leakage, harassment, money laundering, corporate sabotage, and more. Furthermore, Purview also works across heterogeneous environments with ease.

Moving forward, no new features will be added to WIP and it will be removed from future versions of Windows as well. That said, it will still be supported on supported versions of Windows. Given that it is being phased out, Microsoft has encouraged enterprise customers to explore Purview Information Protection and DLP and consider migrating to it. You can receive more guidance on this matter in the disclaimer on the dedicated WIP webpage too.