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The Flevy Blog covers Business Strategies, Business Theories, & Business Stories.
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Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Digital Transformation Strategy (145-slide PowerPoint presentation). Digital Transformation is being embraced by organizations across most industries, as the role of technology shifts from being a business enabler to a business driver. This has only been accelerated by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Thus, to remain competitive and outcompete in today's fast paced, [read more]
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While the internet has made data sharing quicker and easier than ever before, there are risks involved with online file sharing. Sensitive information could be exposed accidentally or your data could be accessed by hackers. If your file-sharing software requires you to bypass firewalls or download files, you could be opening yourself up to cyberattacks. The same goes for installing malicious software. If an employee unwittingly opens a file containing malware like viruses, spyware, or Trojan horses, your entire network could become compromised. So, you need to ensure your company is adopting the best techniques for ensuring the data you share is secure. Here are four recommended ways to go about it.
1. Choose a Business-grade Management SystemWhen choosing a management system for data sharing, you may be tempted to go with a free or inexpensive consumer-grade system. Unfortunately, many can leave you susceptible to data leaks and other security risks. Instead, use a business-grade service that enables you to have strong visibility over a number of excellent security controls, such as access control compliance, and expiring-file access.
Many companies overlook the growing need to share data via mobile devices and how the security solutions for desktop and mobile can differ. When you choose a mobile file server, you have a simplified and more secure way of accessing shared files, as it provides an access layer that publishes file shares via HTTPS from an interface that works from web browsers on mobile devices and desktops. With the right mobile server, you can gain the protection you need, such as secure remote access and file sharing, and disaster prevention and recovery. The privacy of your data is further maintained via isolated management of users and access rights. You can also run compliance checks.
One of the best methods of data sharing is to use the cloud. By having a centralized place where anyone with permission has access to shared data, operations run much more efficiently. No longer do users have to hunt for data across multiple locations of your organization. With cloud data storage, everything is centralized and easily accessible. However, for that data to remain secure it must, firstly, be limited to authorized personnel only, and secondly, be encrypted. That means even if there is a data security breach, the data will not be able to be read. Your data should be encrypted when being transmitted as well. When end-to-end encryption technology is used at the source, during transmission, and on the receiving end, you can be sure your data is totally secure.
According to the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, 43% of employers do not train their staff members sufficiently in data security. So, it is no wonder that many data breaches and losses occur due to employees not being trained correctly. When that is so easy to remedy, it is surprising that more businesses are not waking up to the importance of training and educating employees in data security. Members of staff need to understand the sensitivities of different types of data and the risks associated with mishandling it. When employees have a clear understanding of data security, you can have peace of mind that the security measures you have introduced are working well to keep your company’s sensitive information safe.
You can download in-depth presentations on Cyber Security and 100s of management topics from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.
For even more best practices available on Flevy, have a look at our top 100 lists:
These best practices are of the same as those leveraged by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Accenture. Improve the growth and efficiency of your organization by utilizing these best practice frameworks, templates, and tools. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with over 20+ years of experience.
