What is Windows Azure Active Directory Rights Management?

Windows Azure AD Rights Management enables the ability to encrypt and assign usage restrictions to content for organizations that subscribe to Microsoft online services. Rights Management helps protect content created and exchanged using Microsoft Office as well as other applications or services that have been updated to integrate with the Rights Management service. By implementing a cloud-based rights management service, Rights Management provides an alternative for organizations seeking information protection capabilities within Microsoft Office 365.

Rights management provides the following:

• Safeguards sensitive information.   Applications and services such as Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013, Microsoft SharePoint Online and Microsoft Exchange Online are enabled to help safeguard sensitive information. Users and administrators can define who can open, modify, print, forward, or take other actions with the information. Organizations are provided usage policy templates such as "Company Confidential - Read Only" that can be applied directly to the information.
  
  
• Provides persistent protection.   Rights Management persists protection of file data when at rest and in motion. Once information is locked, only trusted entities that were granted usage rights under the specified conditions (if any) can unlock or decrypt the information.
  
  
• Supports closer management of usage rights and conditions.   Organizations and individuals can assign usage rights and conditions using rights management that define how a specific trusted entity can use rights-protected content. Examples of usage rights are permission to read, copy, print, save, forward, and edit. Usage rights can be accompanied by conditions, such as when those rights expire.
  
  
• Integrates rights management with Office 365.   Rights Management is integrated with SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and other Office 2010 and Office Professional Plus 2013 applications to provide rights management functionality across the Microsoft Office suite.
  
  

For more information on Windows Azure Active Directory, see Windows Azure Active Directory.