Data Retention and Legal Holds in GCC High: Staying Compliant Without Compromise
Data Retention and Legal Holds in GCC High: Staying Compliant Without Compromise
Blog Article
Government contractors working with Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) must maintain strict data retention and legal hold policies—especially in Microsoft GCC High. But meeting these mandates isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about ensuring data is retained securely, discoverable for audits, and protected against unauthorized deletion or alteration.
This article walks through best practices for retention and legal holds in GCC High, and how GCC High migration services can ensure your cloud tenant is audit-ready from day one.
1. Understand Retention Requirements for CUI
Regulatory frameworks like CMMC, DFARS, and NIST 800-171 require:
Specific retention periods for contract-related records
Inviolable storage for legal and compliance data
The ability to produce audit trails on demand
✅ Failing to meet these requirements risks fines, lost contracts, or noncompliance status.
2. Use Microsoft Purview Retention Policies
GCC High supports Microsoft Purview for records retention:
Apply labels to automatically retain data based on content or location
Configure policies to keep data for fixed periods, even if deleted by users
Ensure emails, Teams chats, and SharePoint files are covered
✅ These controls help you retain the right data, for the right amount of time.
3. Apply Litigation Holds Strategically
Legal holds freeze content to prevent modification or deletion:
Enable litigation hold for mailboxes under legal review
Use eDiscovery to search, export, and preserve relevant content
Limit access to authorized compliance officers or legal teams
✅ Holds apply to hidden mailboxes, OneDrive, and Teams content—ensuring full coverage.
4. Train Teams on Retention Behavior
Employees need to understand that:
Deleting an email or file may not remove it (and shouldn’t if it's labeled)
Attempting to bypass retention can trigger alerts or audits
Legal holds override user behavior
✅ Awareness reduces accidental violations and supports compliance culture.
5. Monitor and Report on Retention Effectiveness
Use dashboards to:
Track how much data is under retention or hold
Identify unlabeled or orphaned content
Validate that holds remain in place during personnel or policy changes
✅ GCC High migration services help configure and review these mechanisms as part of compliance readiness.