Are you sure your files are safe?

As cloud adoption continues to increase rapidly, concerns surrounding keeping files safe persist. Businesses in particular face real challenges when it comes to data security, often putting accessibility above all else and leaving data exposed as a result.

This all begs the question, do you know where your business data is? Are your files safe? Are your businesses using a secure file sharing solution, and perhaps more importantly, are your employees?

Even if you’ve answered yes to two out of three of the above questions, it’s the third that could be putting your data at risk.

According to a recent infographic by Maytech, in the past 12 months, 63% of employees have used personal email to send sensitive work documents, and 74% of those employees believe that their companies approve of this type of file-sharing behaviour. In addition to this, and perhaps even more concerning, the infographic also highlights the fact that 25% of businesses are fully aware that their employees are using ‘unofficial’ cloud file sharing solutions.

File sharing and data security

It seems education, then, is a necessity for both employers and employees alike, or the consequences of ignoring the implications of poor data security really could be dire. Both parties need to truly understand the risks involved and work together to minimise them and keep files safe.

The growing volume of sensitive corporate data (which, incidentally, often contains personal information from the general public) that is left insufficiently protected in standard sync-and-share service clouds could lead to significant security breaches.

According to Maytech’s infographic, 40% of businesses who suffered a data breach experienced the exposure of confidential information, and in 2011, the average cost of a data breach equalled £5 million.

Just last week, the Obama administration disclosed the breach of computer systems at the Office of Personnel Management, stating that the records of up to 4 million current and former federal employees may have been compromised.

But what do hackers do with this data? From identity theft to credit card fraud, to selling information on an extremely lucrative black market, their options are manifold.

What can businesses do to minimise risk?

In reality, they have two options:

As over the past few years, employees have grown accustomed to the convenience and efficiency offered by consumer file sharing, getting them to give up now is a non-starter.

The first option most businesses have is to implement a standard sync and share tool and encourage a consistent approach to its use. This option lacks enforced data security, however, and businesses who rely on these services often find they still experience security challenges after they’ve been implemented.

The second, and more robust solution, is to implement an enterprise grade data secure file sharing tool such as Maytech’s Quatrix® Business and enforce a zero tolerance approach to the use of unsecure alternatives. By using this approach, your risks will be considerably reduced without you negatively impacting your company’s productivity, and what’s more, you’ll be one step ahead of 66% of your competitors.

To us, it sounds like a no-brainer.

Maytech provides a global cloud platform for secure and reliant data transfer, wherever you are. We operate a global data network with hubs in Europe, America, China, UAE and Australia and comply with global security and privacy standards.