Note
We’ve renamed Microsoft Cloud App Security. It’s now called Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. In the coming weeks, we’ll update the screenshots and instructions here and in related pages. For more information about the change, see this announcement. To learn more about the recent renaming of Microsoft security services, see the Microsoft Ignite Security blog.
As a cloud file storage and collaboration tool, Dropbox enables your users to share their documents across your organization and partners in a streamlined and efficient way. Using Dropbox may expose your sensitive data not only internally, but also to external collaborators, or even worse make it publicly available via a shared link. Such incidents can be caused by malicious actors, or by unaware employees.
Connecting Dropbox to Defender for Cloud Apps gives you improved insights into your users’ activities, provide threat detection using machine learning based anomaly detections, information protection detections such as detecting external information sharing, and enabling automated remediation controls.
Main threats
- Compromised accounts and insider threats
- Data leakage
- Insufficient security awareness
- Malware
- Ransomware
- Unmanaged bring your own device (BYOD)
How Defender for Cloud Apps helps to protect your environment
- Detect cloud threats, compromised accounts, and malicious insiders
- Discover, classify, label, and protect regulated and sensitive data stored in the cloud
- Enforce DLP and compliance policies for data stored in the cloud
- Limit exposure of shared data and enforce collaboration policies
- Use the audit trail of activities for forensic investigations
Control Dropbox with built-in policies and policy templates
You can use the following built-in policy templates to detect and notify you about potential threats:
| Type | Name |
|---|---|
| Built-in anomaly detection policy | Activity from anonymous IP addresses Activity from infrequent country Activity from suspicious IP addresses Impossible travel Activity performed by terminated user (requires AAD as IdP) Malware detection Multiple failed login attempts Ransomware detection Unusual file deletion activities Unusual file share activities Unusual multiple file download activities |
| Activity policy template | Logon from a risky IP address Mass download by a single user Potential ransomware activity |
| File policy template | Detect a file shared with an unauthorized domain Detect a file shared with personal email addresses Detect files with PII/PCI/PHI |
For more information about creating policies, see Create a policy.
Automate governance controls
In addition to monitoring for potential threats, you can apply and automate the following Dropbox governance actions to remediate detected threats:
| Type | Action |
|---|---|
| Data governance | – Remove direct shared link – Send DLP violation digest to file owners – Trash file |
| User governance | – Notify user on alert (via Azure AD) – Require user to sign in again (via Azure AD) – Suspend user (via Azure AD) |
For more information about remediating threats from apps, see Governing connected apps.
Protect Dropbox in real time
Review our best practices for securing and collaborating with external users and blocking and protecting the download of sensitive data to unmanaged or risky devices.