How do you identify users with excessive access to sensitive data?
Excessive access isn’t always caused by an obviously incorrect permission.
It can build up over time through inherited permissions, group and nested group memberships, old project access, or permissions that were never removed after someone changed roles.
We put together a practical guide covering how to:
• Identify where sensitive data is stored
• Determine who actually has access to it
• Trace inherited and group-based permissions
• Understand each user’s effective access
• Identify users whose access may no longer be justified
• Review and remediate excessive permissions
The examples cover both Windows file servers and SharePoint Online.
Guide: https://www.lepide.com/blog/how-to-identify-users-with-excessive-access-to-sensitive-data/
Curious how others approach this: what’s the hardest part of identifying excessive access in your environment—finding sensitive data, untangling permissions, or determining whether the access is actually necessary?
Posted Sep 2, 2026, 12:42 PM UTC