File sharing riskier than Facebook? If you’re a bit surprised by the headline, you’re not alone. As a technology marketing professional who spends a lot of time reading articles in TechCrunch, Mashable and GigaOm on Facebook security issues, today’s article entitled “Employees’ Use Of Webmail, File-Sharing Services Riskier Than Their Facebook Activity” in Security Dark Reading Room was an eye-opener.
According to Palo Alto Networks, a whopping 96% of enterprises allow use of personal webmail (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail), instant messaging, and peer-to-peer and browser-based file sharing apps, without any monitoring whatsoever, and these apps consume more than one quarter of the bandwidth.
“The heavy use of Webmail at work, as well as Web-based file-sharing apps, basically circumvents most organizations’ email and other security”, according to Palo Alto Networks. What are the main web and browser-based file sharing apps contributing to this security loophole? SkyDrive, USendIt, RapidShare and DocsStock contributed to 96% of this unmonitored file sharing traffic based on Palo Alto Networks data, leaving organizations at risk of data breaches and violation of government and industry regulations.
While file sharing certainly enables collaboration and shouldn’t be hindered, allowing one quarter of an organization’s bandwidth to go unmonitored and unmanaged is definitely worthy of a headline. Particularly given that there are smarter ways to share confidential files with colleagues, partners, and vendors without exposing your organization to a costly data breach, lawsuit or government fine. It’s called secure file transfer. If this article on risky file sharing has you a little worried please give us a call at Accellion. We are here to help with secure file transfer solutions that keep your users and organization protected.
Related posts:
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
LINKEDIN
YOUTUBE