How to Configure Information Barriers in Microsoft Teams – Step-by-Step Guide for Secure Communication Control

This post explains what IBs are, how to configure them, and how to ensure everything works smoothly in your Microsoft 365 environment.

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🔍 What Are Information Barriers?

Information Barriers prevent certain users or groups from communicating and collaborating in Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. They enforce ethical walls within your organization.

Example use case:
A financial firm might block communication between the Advisory and Trading departments to prevent insider information sharing.

IBs control:

• Chats, calls, and meetings
• Team and channel membership
• File sharing and access permissions

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⚙️ Prerequisites

Before configuration, make sure your environment meets these requirements.

Licensing

• Microsoft 365 E5, or
• Office 365 E5 + Compliance Add-on

Required Roles

• Global Administrator
• Compliance Administrator
• Information Barriers Compliance Management

Directory Accuracy

Your Entra ID (Azure AD) attributes like Department, Country, or Custom Attribute must be accurate—IBs rely on these for segmentation.

Architecture

Most modern tenants use Information Barriers v2 (IBv2) — the newer and faster version.

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🧩 Step 1: Plan Segments and Policies

Plan your communication boundaries before setting up anything.

Action	Example
Identify Segments	Sales, Research, Advisory
Define Rules	“Sales cannot communicate with Research”
Map to Attributes	Department = “Sales”
Choose Policy Type	Block or Allow

Tip: Keep it simple—fewer segments mean easier management.

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🧱 Step 2: Create Segments in Microsoft Purview

1. Go to Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal → Information Barriers → Segments.
2. Click Create Segment.
3. Define rules using attributes. Example: Department -eq "Sales" and Country -eq "US"
4. Save and repeat for all groups (Research, Support, etc.).

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🚫 Step 3: Create and Activate Policies

1. Go to Microsoft Purview → Information Barriers → Policies.
2. Click Create Policy.
3. Choose policy type:
   • Block Policy – Prevents communication (e.g., Sales ↔ Research).
   • Allow Policy – Restricts communication only to specific groups.
4. Select segments involved.
5. Save the policy as Inactive, review it, then Activate.
6. Allow up to 24 hours for full propagation across Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive.

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🗂️ Step 4: Assign Site Segments (Optional)

To apply IBs to SharePoint and OneDrive:

1. Identify sensitive sites.
2. Assign a Site Segment that matches your IB setup.
3. Validate access and sharing controls after assignment.

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✅ Step 5: Test and Validate

After activation, verify that:

• Blocked users cannot chat, call, or invite each other to meetings.
• Restricted users cannot join Teams or channels across segments.
• SharePoint and OneDrive respect IB restrictions.
• People search hides restricted users automatically.

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💻 Step 6: Manage with PowerShell (Optional)

Use Security & Compliance PowerShell to manage IB settings.

# View all policies
Get-InformationBarrierPolicy

# Activate a specific policy
Set-InformationBarrierPolicy -Identity "Sales-Blocks-Research" -State Active

# View all segments
Get-InformationBarrierSegment

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🧠 Best Practices

• Simplify segments: Avoid overly complex attribute filters.
• Pilot before production: Start small to test performance.
• Combine with DLP & Sensitivity Labels: IBs restrict who, DLP/Labels restrict what.
• Monitor regularly: Use Purview audit logs for visibility.
• Review quarterly: Adjust as roles and departments evolve.
• Maintain clean Entra ID data: IBs rely entirely on accurate user attributes.

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🧰 Troubleshooting

Issue	Possible Fix
IBs not applying	Wait 24 hours for propagation
Activation errors	Re-check role assignments
Users still visible	IBs block communication, not always visibility
Policy conflicts	Review “Allow” and “Block” combinations carefully

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📋 Sample Rollout Plan

Step	Task	Description
1	Prepare	Verify licenses, assign roles
2	Build	Create segments and policies
3	Test	Pilot with limited users
4	Extend	Assign site segments
5	Validate	Check Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive
6	Monitor	Audit logs and compliance alerts

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🧩 Final Thoughts

Information Barriers are one of the most powerful compliance tools in Microsoft Teams. They help organizations maintain regulatory integrity, protect confidential data, and enforce internal communication policies seamlessly.

When combined with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Sensitivity Labels, IBs become part of a complete information governance framework—keeping your Microsoft 365 environment secure, compliant, and efficient.

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