information rights management

Information Rights Management (IRM) is a term that applies to a technology which protects sensitive information from unauthorized access.

In this system, secrets are protected through the design of the network and an "information rights management" approach that controls access to the data, not access to the whole network.

Information Rights Management capabilities were introduced in document productivity applications to limit access to a set of users and/or restrict types of actions that users could perform.

Eligible employees of companies with volume license agreements for Microsoft Office receive additional tools, including enterprise content management, electronic forms, Information Rights Management capabilities and copies for use on a home computer.

Some solutions, like Adobe's LiveCycle Rights Management, are more robust means of information rights management, which can both restrict who can open documents, but also reliably enforce permissions in ways that the standard security handler does not.