AI, we have a Problem -of Oversharing. These lines likely remind you of the iconic line from the 1995 movie, Apollo 13—“Houston, we have a problem”. Well, turns out that in fact, we may have a problem bigger than our astronauts had back then. I will readily confess that I was not aware of this term till I first heard of it at an AI conference that Microsoft hosted in April this year in Houston. Since then, one of our customers is evaluating this oversharing issue, and I have also become aware of a start-up company that is tackling this exact problem.
What is ‘Oversharing’?
Simply put, ‘Oversharing’ is the indiscriminate sharing of documents, files, folders, and data across enterprise employees and maybe even with external users. This situation is prevalent in most companies and presents a great risk. It is worth noting that in many cases, this oversharing is not happening due to rogue intent. Rather, employees in the spirit of collaboration and productivity share files with everyone in a Teams Channel or SharePoint site. For example, while uploading a document in SharePoint, Teams, or OneDrive, “share with everyone except external users” is a policy many users adopt by default. This enables access to the document to all internal users which creates a security hazard as users could now access data that they should not be allowed to.
Why does AI create a Problem?
In the past, it did not matter as much because it was not easy for users to find information. Most times, the information/data was buried somewhere, and users did not know that it even existed or how to retrieve it. But, AI assistants like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Google Gemini, and others will surface all the information that has been indexed. So, now that HR compensation data or confidential Q4 Financials, or an employee’s social security information is a Copilot question/prompt away. So, yes, AI, we have a problem.
How do we mitigate the Risk of Oversharing in the age of AI?
We will summarize the action items and present some links. In today’s age, the solution discovery is only a ChatGPT answer away. We recommend that you implement:
1.SharePoint Advanced Management
SharePoint Advanced Management is an add-on for Microsoft 365 that equips IT administrators with a powerful suite of tools to bolster content governance throughout the Microsoft Copilot deployment journey.
Key Features:
- Manage Content Sprawl: Automatically identify and govern inactive or unused SharePoint sites to reduce clutter and improve data organization.
- Manage Content Lifecycle: Streamline content creation, retention, and deletion using automated policies and detailed reporting to maintain compliance and efficiency.
- Manage Permissions and Access: Control who can access content with tools like restricted access, blocking downloads, and conditional access to prevent oversharing.
- AI-Powered Insights and Reporting: Use AI to analyze site usage and security patterns, offering actionable recommendations to improve governance.
- Admin Automation and PowerShell Support: Enable large-scale management through PowerShell scripts and advanced admin tools for efficient policy enforcement.
Learn more about SharePoint Advanced Management
We believe that this is essential before you deploy Copilot.
2. Microsoft Purview
We suggest that you also consider deploying Microsoft Purview at it offers a unified data governance, compliance, and risk management platform in Microsoft 365 and Azure.
Key Features:
- Information Protection: Automatically identify, classify, and protect sensitive data across your organization using built-in labeling and encryption.
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Prevent accidental or intentional sharing of sensitive data across emails, apps, endpoints, and cloud services.
- Insider Risk Management: Detect and investigate potential insider threats like data theft or misuse using AI and behavior-based risk detection.
- Unified Data Governance: Gain visibility, discoverability, and control over your entire data estate, enabling safe use of data for analytics and AI.
- Compliance and Privacy Management: Help meet regulatory requirements through investigation tools, audit support, and automation of compliance workflows.
Learn more about Microsoft Purview
3. Alternative solution- Opsin Security
There is innovation happening in this space. One of the start-ups in this space based in California that you may consider evaluating is Opsin Security.
Opsin offers a unified solution to tackle the problem of oversharing in the era of Copilot. Instead of deploying both SharePoint Advanced Management and Microsoft Purview, you could deploy Opsin. This would also eliminate the need for PowerShell scripting that you would need otherwise.
Key Features:
- Proactive Risk Discovery: Identifies overshared, exposed, or misconfigured sensitive data across platforms like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Google Workspace—before GenAI tools expose it.
- Business-Aligned Prioritization: Surfaces only high-impact risks to sensitive data, helping security teams focus on the issues that matter most—without getting overwhelmed by low-priority noise.
- Decentralized Remediation: Enables IT and business units to take ownership and fix oversharing issues at the source, reducing manual security workload and fostering accountability.
- Real-Time Monitoring and Enforcement: Continuously monitors GenAI usage and enforces AI usage policies to prevent data leaks through tools like Microsoft Copilot and Gemini.
- Fast Deployment and High Accuracy: Installs quickly and delivers actionable insights within days, using intelligent signals to detect true oversharing—not false positives.
Learn more about Opsin Security
Final Thoughts
The AI future is here. Let’s make sure it’s secure. While the age of AI and assistants like Microsoft Copilot can make us very productive by being able to access information easily to do our work, they also pose a serious risk. By discovering and surfacing data that users should not have access to, they can damage their reputation and business. This does not mean that we should refrain from deploying Copilot. Instead, the solution is to deploy SharePoint Advanced Management, Microsoft Purview, or consider offerings from start-ups like Opsin Security before you roll out Copilot. Now, turbo-charge your business with productivity increases you never imagined before.
Ready to Deploy AI Safely?
Want help assessing your oversharing risks or planning a secure Copilot rollout? Reach out to our team at Unvired — we’re here to help you design and deploy AI governance frameworks that balance collaboration and compliance.
Contact us today for a tailored consultation.
