Microsoft Teams: Start side conversations during meetings

🚨 The Signal: Teams meetings now allow private side conversations, potentially bypassing formal communication channels and increasing unmonitored data exchange. This impacts data governance and information security.

The Impact

All users are affected by new unmonitored communication channels, increasing data exfiltration and compliance risks.

• End-users: May inadvertently share sensitive data in unmonitored chats.
• Security Team: Increased risk of data exfiltration and compliance breaches.
• Compliance Officers: New channels for unrecorded conversations complicate eDiscovery and audit trails.
• Admins: Need to review and potentially update data loss prevention (DLP) policies for new chat types.

The Action

1. Review existing Microsoft Teams messaging policies for private chat controls.
2. Evaluate Microsoft Purview DLP policies to ensure coverage for new Teams chat types.
3. Communicate updated acceptable use policies to end-users regarding private meeting chats.
4. Monitor Teams audit logs for unusual activity related to new chat functionalities.

Domain: Teams · Impact: high · Workload: Teams