eSHARE Data Attributes Add-in for Microsoft Office

The eSHARE Data Attributes Add-in for Microsoft Office, an extension of eSHARE Collaborate, simplifies document marking and data tagging workflows by embedding them within the user’s content creation workflows. It also strengthens data protection by assuring security attributes in the form of labels and GUIDs are present in documents to trigger DLP policies.

The Problem

Document tagging and marking requirements exist across many industries, including Defense/Government (for Controlled Unclassified Information and classified data), Healthcare (patient data, medical devices), Finance, Energy, Manufacturing and Technology. These requirements are driven by regulations for safety, privacy, national security, and traceability, often following standards like ISO or government mandates like CMMC.

Though Microsoft 365 has document tagging and marking capabilities, there are two significant shortcomings.

1. Only one marking is allowed per label. Because M365 allows only one label per document, a document can only have one associated marking. With many organizations having multiple types of data for which document markings are required (e.g., CUI, Export Control, and Intellectual Property) and with documents possibly containing multiple data types, multiple sets of document markings must be simultaneously and independently applied to documents. This is not possible with M365.
2. A marking is always applied (i.e., markings are not under the user’s control). In some cases, users are opening/editing documents that already have markings applied by partners and government agencies who originated these documents. With M365, documents with duplicate and potentially conflicting markings are not uncommon.
3. Inability to detect files with multiple data types. With a file being limited to one sensitivity label, the use of a label to deterministically locate files is limited to one data type. There is no ability to independently detect multiple data types.

In summary, organizations require the ability to independently apply and detect multiple document tags for document markings, DLP, and data discovery.

The Solution

The eSHARE Data Attributes Add-in for Microsoft office is a mini app that runs inside of Office apps providing a UI through which data tags, including their associated document markings, can be selected and applied to documents while they are being viewed and edited.

The add-in is accessed via the ribbon menu in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. When opened, the add-in shows the current sensitivity label (if any) for the opened email or document and presents data tags for selection by the user. Multiple data tags can be selected.

The available data tags are determined based on the sensitivity label applied to the document and the tags the organization has assigned to the label. The label-driven architecture of the add-in assures good governance.

Data tags are realized in the document in two ways: visual markings and globally unique identifiers (GUID).

1. Visual Markings take the form of document headers and footers. If the document already has a header/footer, the user will be given the opportunity to retain the existing header/footer content or overwrite them, with a provided custom warning.
2. GUIDs are applied to the document via a custom document property for each tag selected by the user. GUIDs allow data discovery and DLP tools to detect files with specific tags and associated visual markings.

The add-in can be used to apply a label to a document and also to create an eSHARE Trusted Share from the opened document.