How to secure file sharing in business?
It is undeniable that file sharing is a key element of collaborative work and business productivity. However, the establishment of a secure sharing process is essential in order to protect sensitive data against possible unauthorized access, strategic information leaks or cyberattacks. For this reason, we explain how to securely share your business files.
What is secure file sharing?
Secure file sharing is a way of transmitting digital files between two users in a way that protects information in transit from unauthorized access to that data. This involves the deployment of appropriate security measures such as the encryption of information, the adoption of strong passwords or even two-factor authentication.
To share a file, it is possible to use a mailbox, a file sharing service via the Internet, an instant messenger or even transfer the file via the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) protocol.
The risks and challenges of file sharing
Although file sharing is essential to business collaboration, it is crucial to understand the risks associated with insecure sharing as well as the challenges of securing data.
When sharing files that are not secure, the company is exposed to the leak of confidential information, whether it is customer data, banking information or industrial secrets. Shared files can also be infected by malicious software that has the ability to quickly spread across the corporate network and compromise computer systems. Overall, insecure file sharing makes it difficult to track file versions, identify who has access to data, and manage permissions.
These very varied risks highlight strategic challenges related to securing sharing for businesses. Indeed, the implementation of best practices and the selection of relevant IT tools make it possible to comply with data protection regulations and to avoid sanctions. In addition, optimal information protection contributes to maintaining the trust of customers and partners and maintaining the reputation of your business. Finally, on a daily basis, security is fundamental to improving collaboration and increasing productivity, because team members then have access to reliable information that they can transmit without worry and without compromising data security.
5 criteria for choosing a secure file sharing solution
Here are five key criteria to consider in order to choose a solution that is perfectly suited to your needs.
1. Data security
Encrypting data at rest and in transit is the first criterion. Your files should be protected by strong encryption when stored and when transferred to a recipient.
Strong authentication, such as two-factor authentication, will increase security by preventing unauthorized access to information by a malicious individual.
The solution should also offer effective authorization management to control access to corporate files. It is in fact necessary to be able to precisely define which collaborators or partners have access to which files or folders via granular permission levels (read-only, modification, deletion, etc.).
2. Regulatory compliance
In order to guarantee your reputation and preserve the data of your customers and employees as well as your industrial secrets, your tool must be comprehensive in terms of regulatory compliance.
Depending on your specific needs, make sure that the solution complies with the regulations of your sector of activity and your geographical area. Compliance with standards may include the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or the ISO 27001 information system security standard.
Where your data is stored is important for security and legal compliance reasons. Opt for data hosting in certified centers located in appropriate geographical areas. Ideally, your information should be hosted in France for reasons of digital sovereignty.
3. Ease of use
The solution should offer an intuitive interface for non-technical users. Plus the handling of the file sharing solution will be easy, the faster it will be adopted by employees.
Your employees should also have the ability to access files from any device in order to promote productivity and remote work. Compatibility with commonly used devices and systems such as PCs, Macs or mobile devices is therefore essential.
To maintain or even strengthen the effectiveness of teams on a daily basis, we advise you to choose a solution that can easily be integrated into your current work tools. The integration with the tools used by your company, whether Microsoft Office or Google Workspace, must therefore be optimal.
4. Advanced features
Some advanced features are essential to ensure secure file sharing and efficient collaborative work. So, version management is very useful because it gives you the ability to recover previous files. With it, you keep a history of file changes and can easily restore previous versions if needed.
To control access to shared files, the ideal is to create links that are shared using passwords or have an expiration date. This adds an extra layer of security to your file uploads.
Monitoring and auditing activities on the various shared files are also among the very interesting features. You can thus keep track of all the actions performed on a file (access, modification, download, etc.) for increased security.
5. Scalability and technical support
To adapt to the growth of your organization, the solution must be able to keep up with your changing needs in terms of storage or the number of users. Scalability must therefore be at the heart of the solution you are going to choose.
Customer support should also be responsive and available through channels as varied as chat, email, or phone to resolve any issues you may be facing or simply answer your questions.
In order to control your budget, choose a platform offering flexible pricing solutions adapted to your needs.
The best secure file sharing solutions
Discover our overview of the best secure file sharing solutions, with their features, pricing, and storage capacities.
Wimi, the all-in-one, secure and sovereign collaborative platform
The Wimi solution is much more than a simple file sharing tool. It is a complete collaborative platform that offers users a secure and sovereign working environment. It integrates a collaborative workspace with project management and real-time communication tools.
In terms of security, it offers data encryption, two-factor authentication, access rights management and data hosting in France. Let's add that it is the first sovereign collaborative suite, aiming for a SecNumCloud qualification by 2025.
The Wimi Drive offer starts at 9 euros per month with 250 GB of secure storage. Some plans go up to 1TB of storage.
Dropbox, the online storage pro, simple and efficient
Dropbox is a pioneer in online file storage and sharing. The platform is particularly recognized for its ease of use, which has made it a popular solution for individuals and professionals. It allows all its users to automatically send and synchronize files across all of your devices.
The security component of the product includes data encryption and two-factor authentication. Warning: some features like granular permissions are only available on the most expensive plans.
The free version of Dropbox offers 2 GB of storage while the Business Plus plan at 18 euros per month offers up to 15 TB of storage.
Asana, the recognized solution to boost productivity
Above all, the Asana platform is a project management tool. You can thus organize your tasks, monitor the progress of your projects or even collaborate with your team using this solution. It also includes secure file sharing features.
In particular, you can rely on data encryption, access control, and two-factor authentication to maintain the confidentiality and security of your business data.
The free version and the Advanced version at 24.99 euros per month offer unlimited storage of up to 100 MB per file.
Google Drive, the Google ecosystem at the service of collaboration
Google Drive is integrated into the Google Workspace suite of applications. It is therefore a very practical solution for businesses that regularly use the most famous Google software and tools such as Gmail, Google Docs or Google Sheets. This platform allows you to store and share files from any device connected to the internet.
Within Google Drive, you will find essential security features such as data encryption and protection against malware.
Google is a service adapted to individuals and offers 15 GB of storage in its free version. The Google Workspace platform, adapted for professionals, integrates Google Drive and offers a Business Starter package starting at 5.75 euros per month with 30 GB of storage. This storage capacity can reach 5 TB with the Business Plus plan at 17.25 euros per month.
OneDrive, the Microsoft cloud for smooth and secure work
Microsoft's file storage and sharing solution is integrated with Windows and the Office 365 suite. This platform offers the usual features such as real-time collaboration, as well as file storage and sharing.
Data is secured through two-factor encryption, ransomware protection, and two-factor authentication.
In its free version for individuals, the OneDrive solution offers 5 GB of online storage. For businesses, the offers start at 4.70 euros per month with 1 TB of storage.
