A Guide To Secure Sharing And Collaboration Within Your Enterprise

Collaboration is a buzzword across all businesses and the new normal, especially for remote work setups. Whether they’re at home or in the office, employees remain productive with various tools for meetings, project updates, and presentations. They can easily send, save, and transmit digital files across departments to ensure efficient workflow.
However, the era of virtual workspaces and cooperative environments also poses serious security risks. For one, employees can get lost in multiple versions of a document. You may even have trouble keeping track of who downloaded the files, or worse, it can fall into the hands of unintended users.
This is why, as a business owner, it’s vital to ensure the tools you use to keep sensitive information are safe and well within the confines of your enterprise.

Essential Technologies For Secure Sharing And Collaboration

Technology plays a central role in keeping business documents secure. If you’re looking for a way to keep your business data safe and easily accessible for your team, here are several tools to help you out:

File Sharing Software

File sharing allows employees to privately share one or more files using different platforms. Email is often the default mode, while others rely on USB storage. However, dependence on these two can compromise data when accessed using unsecured devices. They may also hamper workflows because of their limited nature. 

To resolve this, you’ll need secure file transfer software to transmit large files, provide safe and sufficient storage, as well as enable sync across multiple devices. This way, you allow multiple users to access the updated document simultaneously from your premises or on the cloud.

Aside from easy access, look for file sharing tools that have encryption capabilities. This ensures that only authorized recipients can open the files with a given code, and it’ll remain inaccessible to those outside your enterprise.

It’s also helpful to check if the file-sharing system has anti-virus features so you can lessen incidents of infected files and messages.

Collaboration Tools

Files and information not only circulate between employees but also transfer from one department to another. Collaborative tools help various teams and personalities effectively communicate and work together to accomplish a common goal. 

While cooperation is easily achieved in a traditional office setting, remote work can make this a challenge. Employees working at different locations with varying internet connections can present problems when it comes to project updates. For instance, you may need to wait before team members are all online to push through with your plan. 

With suitable collaboration tools, your employees don’t need to worry about file size limits or restrict themselves to word documents or spreadsheets. They can send audio or video files for their presentations and even allow revisions that are seen and accessible in real-time. They can also send instant messages, create chat groups, or call for virtual meetings to discuss project details. 

Apart from real-time access, collab tools should be downloadable across various devices so workers can connect with their peers anytime, anywhere. Check if apps are both PC and mobile-friendly and if they require little to no training before use. This way, your workers can use the technology upon installation.  

Cybersecurity Policy

While it’s typical for file-sharing apps and collaboration tools to have built-in security features, this doesn’t mean they’re not vulnerable to malicious attacks. Hackers are hell-bent on stealing your information, and they’re using advanced technologies, such as AI and machine learning, for their fraudulent activities. 

This being said, it’s best to integrate productivity tools into your overall IT security strategy. While these are internal communications, they’re at the frontline of your network. Thus, it’s advisable to protect them with authentication protocols, such as username and password, OTP, or biometrics. 

To ward off threats, you can also limit permissions to specific individuals and monitor device and system usage. Check if everything in your network complies with your security policy and prepare to make adjustments. 

A robust IT infrastructure allows you to perform daily communications without worrying about data breaches and other cybersecurity threats. Internal teams can work together and share information, learn from each other, and even resolve concerns within a secure network.

Conclusion

Enterprises can make file sharing and collaboration secure with the use of appropriate software. Apart from addressing communication needs within the company, these tools should also have security features to ensure that data is sent, received, and stored safely. While these apps are secure on their own, integrating them into your company’s cybersecurity strategy makes them reliable and efficient platforms. Along with other IT tools, ensure constant connection, cooperation, and collaboration to make your enterprise grow and flourish.