Microsoft Purview · Insider Risk Management
Insider Risk Management Investigators
Full investigation access including forensic evidence, Content Explorer, and detailed user activity review without policy configuration.
Scope: Deep investigation with full evidence access for assigned cases - no policy configuration
Permissions
- Analyst Permissions - All Analyst permissions (access and investigate alerts and cases)
- Forensic Evidence - Access and view forensic evidence captures
- Content Explorer - Access and view Content Explorer to view file content
- Notice Templates - Configure notice templates
- Users Tab - View Adaptive Protection users tab
- Reports - View alert and case reports
- Risk Graphs - View data risk graphs for alerts
- Activity Logs - View detailed user activity logs
- Content Access - Access file and email content related to cases
- Export - Export comprehensive investigation packages
- Collaboration - Add contributors to cases for collaboration
- Threshold Editing - Optionally edit policy thresholds (if inline alert customization enabled)
Common use cases
- Senior security analysts conducting thorough investigations
- Legal team reviewing evidence for potential litigation
- HR conducting serious misconduct investigations
- Forensic analysts examining suspected data theft
- Incident response team analyzing complex insider threats
- Reviewing forensic evidence captures of user device activity
Best practices
- Document every step of investigation process
- Maintain strict confidentiality of investigations
- Preserve evidence integrity and chain of custody
- Coordinate with legal before accessing forensic evidence
- Use just-in-time access for sensitive investigations via PIM
- Export and secure evidence before case closure
- Follow established investigation playbooks
- Forensic evidence viewing requires approval from IRM Approvers
- Add case contributors for collaborative investigations
- Review Adaptive Protection risk levels to prioritize cases
- **Note:** Forensic evidence requires device onboarding and Microsoft Purview Client
Security considerations
- Extremely sensitive - can view user files and communications via Content Explorer
- Forensic evidence captures show visual screenshots of user device activity
- Must comply with privacy laws and employment regulations (GDPR, local laws)
- All evidence access logged and auditable
- Forensic evidence viewing requires strong justification and approval
- Should be limited to most trusted personnel only
- Consider using PIM for time-limited activation
- Cannot create forensic evidence capture requests (only Admins can)
- Usernames pseudonymized by default for privacy protection
Common questions
When should I assign the Insider Risk Management Investigators role?
Assign Insider Risk Management Investigators when you need to: Senior security analysts conducting thorough investigations; Legal team reviewing evidence for potential litigation; HR conducting serious misconduct investigations; Forensic analysts examining suspected data theft; and Incident response team analyzing complex insider threats. It is part of Microsoft Purview and should be granted as a least-privilege alternative to broader roles like Global Administrator.
What can someone with the Insider Risk Management Investigators role do?
The Insider Risk Management Investigators role grants permissions including: Analyst Permissions - All Analyst permissions (access and investigate alerts and cases); Forensic Evidence - Access and view forensic evidence captures; Content Explorer - Access and view Content Explorer to view file content; Notice Templates - Configure notice templates; Users Tab - View Adaptive Protection users tab; and Reports - View alert and case reports. See the Permissions section above for the full list.
What are the security risks of the Insider Risk Management Investigators role?
Key considerations when assigning Insider Risk Management Investigators: Extremely sensitive - can view user files and communications via Content Explorer; Forensic evidence captures show visual screenshots of user device activity; Must comply with privacy laws and employment regulations (GDPR, local laws); and All evidence access logged and auditable. Review the Security considerations section before assignment, and pair with Privileged Identity Management (PIM) for just-in-time access where possible.