3 Simple Steps for Secure File Sharing in Your Company

Now, more than ever, businesses of all sizes and industries are dependent upon the accumulation, distribution, and leveraging of information of all kinds. To become and remain a leader in a given sector, a firm must have the means to harness available data.

Achieving this goal is obviously a complex, multi-step process. Undoubtedly, though, one of the most critical components of this objective is ensuring secure file sharing among a company's employees. If a firm's workers cannot easily and safely share information, that data will lose a great deal of its value, hurting the organization's overall ability to compete.

With that in mind, here are three tips for achieving secure file sharing within your company.

1. Invest in high-quality tools

At first glance, this may seem like an obvious piece of advice: To ensure an effective secure file sharing strategy, businesses must invest in high-quality tools that can guarantee data integrity.

What makes this issue more complicated is deciding how to judge the various secure file sharing options on the market. No two of these solutions are equally viable, and it is critical for firms to make the correct decision to limit risk and maximize productivity.

So what should firms look for when evaluating file sharing options? In addition to the ability to protect corporate data from a wide range of cyberattacks, including malware and viruses, these solutions must also be easy for employees to use. This point is often overlooked by firms, with serious consequences. If a given secure file sharing solution is difficult or time consuming to use, employees are inevitably less inclined to make use of it. Instead, they will likely turn to easier but less secure methods of file sharing such as Dropbox and other consumer-grade solutions.

Employees will generally choose options that make their workdays easier and more productive over those that provide a greater degree of corporate data security. Only by prioritizing the user experience can companies find a secure file sharing solution that truly provides high-grade data protection that encourages rather than discourages employee adoption.

2. Create a security-oriented culture

As mentioned above, employee adoption of secure file sharing tools is essential for guaranteeing that corporate data remains secure. A big part of achieving this goal is creating a security-oriented culture throughout the company.

Many firms fall short in this regard. They invest in tools and craft official policies concerning data security, but then leave this issue relatively untouched, assuming the policy is enough. The problem with this behavior is that it simply does not go far enough toward demonstrating the importance of data security to employees. As time goes on, workers will inevitably become more lax in their adherence to proper protocols, which gradually increases the risk of a data breach.

Fortunately, data breaches are relatively rare occurrences, and there are few warning signs that a firm may be vulnerable to such an event until it happens. Only by creating and maintaining vigilant corporate security practices can firms reduce the likelihood that data breach will occur.

3. Regular review

Once a secure file sharing solution and related policies are in place, it is critical for firms to actively monitor security and user activities in regard to data protection. The threats firms face from cybercriminals are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. The most advanced secure file sharing program right now may not be adequate for a firm's needs within a few years.

It is therefore imperative for companies to regularly review their solutions to ensure that all security needs are being met.

What’s Next?

Discover how to securely share your files and save your organization money and watch our latest webinar, “Three Mistakes IT Makes that Could Cost Your Organization Millions.”

IT departments in any organization are busy. Maintenance, troubleshooting, and ongoing projects often leave no time for planning. However, when details get lost in the shuffle, that’s when costly mistakes happen and it can carry a heavy price tag, affecting your personal reputation and that of your organization.

In this webinar we discuss:

• Three common mistakes that IT departments make in the day-to-day shuffle
• Areas where you and your organization are likely exposed
• Guidelines and helpful tips to help you avoid these costly gaps