The Importance of a Company Policy

We live in an age where data security is becoming more and more of an issue, but not everyone has figured that out because it isn’t as obvious as you might think. The biggest threat to a company’s security isn’t potential hackers but careless employees that do not understand how to correctly share data.

As the employer, it’s important to create and enforce a strong policy for employees.

First, it’s important to understand what exactly employees are doing wrong.  According to GlobalScape, 63 percent of employees have used personal email to send sensitive work documents and 45 percent have leveraged consumer site like DropBox and Box.net to share important information

This should be addressed in your company policy because these are not safe outlets for file-sharing.  While email and DropBox can be useful, important work documents need to be transferred in a secure fashion with more than just standard encryption.  You need either an on-premise file sharing server that is behind for network or on a secure cloud-based system with complex file and user access permissions that is designed for business file sharing, not consumer (like DropBox or Box.net).  These are the most secure options for transferring data within your company.

The next step in increasing security is through enforcement because making a strong policy is one thing but administering it to your employees is how you become successful.  Of those employees at companies that have policies for sending files, 62 percent still use remote devices, 54 percent still use personal email, and 39 percent user consumer sites, according to GlobalScape.  This means that companies need to explain why they policy is in place and the significance of security.  Once employees start to understand the significance of security, they will begin to practice secure file-sharing data.

Now, now one can tell you exactly what your policy should be because they don’t know your company like you do, but there are certain behaviors that employees continue to do that can be harmful.  SmartFile can help you decide what kind of file-sharing system that your company needs because SmartFile is a leader in both on-premise and cloud data sharing.  Contact us if you want to start making a strong data sharing policy that will keep your company safe.

What does your company do to help educate their employees on secure file sharing policies? We want to hear your story and how your company stays secure!

SmartFile is a business file mangement platform that gives you more control, compliance and security.

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