Copilot Risk Scenarios
Real-world risk scenarios observed in enterprise Copilot deployments.
73%
have oversharing issues
45%
have broken permissions
62%
lack sensitivity labels
Copilot surfaces sensitive documents that were unintentionally shared broadly.
Example Scenario
An executive asks Copilot to summarize board communications. Copilot returns confidential M&A discussions.
Business Impact
- Confidential strategy exposed
- Compliance violations
- Loss of competitive advantage
Mitigation Steps
- Audit sites with Everyone permissions
- Implement sensitivity labels
- Deploy to vetted pilot group first
Broken inheritance chains allow Copilot to access documents users should not see.
Example Scenario
A junior analyst queries salary data. Due to broken permissions, Copilot returns executive compensation.
Business Impact
- Unauthorized access to HR data
- Employee relations issues
- Trust erosion
Mitigation Steps
- Run permissions audit
- Fix broken inheritance
- Use access reviews
Users craft prompts that extract and aggregate sensitive data.
Example Scenario
A departing employee uses Copilot to compile customer contacts and pricing.
Business Impact
- IP theft
- Customer data exposure
- Legal liability
Mitigation Steps
- Monitor usage patterns
- Implement DLP rules
- Enable audit logging
Copilot generates confident but inaccurate information.
Example Scenario
Copilot states the company passed SOC 2 audit when there were findings.
Business Impact
- Incorrect compliance representations
- Regulatory penalties
Mitigation Steps
- Train users to verify outputs
- Use Copilot as assistant
Copilot surfaces data from forgotten or abandoned sites.
Example Scenario
Copilot returns data from a 2019 project site with outdated agreements.
Business Impact
- Outdated info as current
- Retention violations
Mitigation Steps
- Implement data lifecycle management
- Clean abandoned sites first
Copilot aggregates PII from multiple sources into single responses.
Example Scenario
HR request triggers Copilot to aggregate salary, reviews, and medical records.
Business Impact
- Privacy regulation violations
- Identity theft enablement
Mitigation Steps
- Strict classification
- Apply sensitivity labels to PII
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