Should You Allow Online File Storage?

In 5 years, Dropbox, the online file storage company has grown to a user base of 50 million users worldwide. That’s great news for their founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, but not such good news for network security managers!
Online file storage is simple to use, and incredibly convenient if you need to access files both in the office as well as from home or on the move. The disadvantage of many of the services that were originally designed for consumer use however, is that you can lose control of your data security.
Since consumer online file sharing systems were not designed with the business user in mind; there is often little or no provision for central management, and storing data in US data centres renders it open to examination under the US Patriot act. Storing personal data outside the EU also runs the risk of landing you on the wrong side of EU data protection legislation in the event of a data breach. We think that businesses need to consider their policy on online file sharing and whether consumer file storage services should be blocked using an application firewall.
On the other hand, employees are using these services because they help them to do their jobs more efficiently and be more productive, so a better answer is to provide users with better tools that offer superior facilities than those provided by consumer online storage. Products such as Accellion and Trend Micro Safesync for Business provide cloud storage that can be managed by your IT staff. They employ the highest levels of data protection to secure your information in European data centres, and to protect against insecure passwords, you can also implement two factor authentication to positively identify users connecting to the service.
Both Accellion and Safesync for Busines also provide additional tools for online collaboration, allowing you to send files securely to your clients and business partners, and collaborate on project documentation. If you want to know more about how your company can take its first steps into the world of cloud computing, why not give us a call?