Have you ever stopped thinking about who has access to the files you've shared via OneDrive or Teams? With so much collaboration happening online these days, it's easy to forget who you have granted an access to, and what they can do with your files. With the ever-increasing demand for remote work, the use of tools like OneDrive and Teams for collaboration and file sharing has become a norm in the organizations. However, this trend also brings some significant challenges for the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
Microsoft's OneDrive and Teams platforms have made it easier than ever to share files and work collaboratively with others. It's just a few simple clicks. And you do it every day or every week. However, with this convenience comes a potential security risk. It's important to know who has an access to your files and to take steps to protect your sensitive information. Even after you used file sharing for some weeks or months. The CISO, being responsible for the security of an organization, faces the challenge of securing the data shared through these collaborative tools without compromising productivity and accessibility. And he must assure that compliance regulations and security requirements are met.
In this series of articles, we'll explore the potential risks of data sharing files via OneDrive or Teams and provide some tips on how to keep your information secure. In this first article, we will identify the key challenges that a CISO may face in securing shared data through these tools and provide some recommendations on how to mitigate cybersecurity risks effectively. In the next part, we will discuss why administrators are not the right people to monitor and maintain data access rights, not even mentioning the tasks to control file sharing in OneDrive or Teams.
Data Sharing is a cooperation without borders
In the current digital age, collaboration and data sharing have become almost a necessity for businesses of all sizes. The ability to easily collaborate with colleagues from around the world is no longer a privilege but an expectation. With our ever-increasing need to stay connected and productive, tools like Microsoft’s OneDrive and Teams are essential in helping us work together without borders.
But with these conveniences come potential risks that can compromise sensitive data if not managed properly. A CISO must ensure that data shared through these services remains secure, while still providing the necessary accessibility and productivity to users.
Data Access Governance
One of the key challenges a CISO must face is a Data Access Governance (DAG). And the first step towards data security and DAG is understanding who has an access to your files, when and why. DAG is a set of policies that are designed to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to an organization’s sensitive data. While most of the files can be shared internally without limits, about 10% of them contain information that must be protected. And if these files are leaked outside the company, things become costly. DAG can help CISOs to quickly identify who has been granted the access to that data, stored on OneDrive or Teams, allowing them to take the necessary steps to ensure this kind of information will not be leaked.
Data Classification
The next step in securing your data is data classification. With data stored on OneDrive or Teams, it’s important to take steps to minimize the risks of a security breach. Data classification is an essential part of any security strategy, and one that should not be overlooked when using OneDrive or Teams. It is also one of the first steps when implementing a Zero Trust strategy. By classifying your data, you can identify the files that contain sensitive information and place additional security measures on them. This includes implementing DAG policies such as assigning access rights based on job roles (attributes) and restricting external sharing of certain documents.
Risk Mitigation in Data Sharing
Once you have implemented data classification and DAG policies, it’s important to monitor the file sharing activity on a regular basis, even continuously. This is mandatory to identify any potential security risks or suspicious activities, so you can take the necessary steps to mitigate them. It is also important to keep an audit log of all the file sharing activity to ensure data is being accessed and shared appropriately.
Data Sharing: Conclusion
OneDrive and Teams are great tools for collaboration and data sharing, but they also pose a risk to your organization’s data security. It’s essential that CISOs understand the potential risks associated with using these services and take steps to protect their organizations from potential data breaches. By implementing a DAG policy, data classification and risk mitigation tools, CISOs can ensure that their organizations’ sensitive data is safe and secure.
In our next blog article in this series, you will learn why it is precisely the administrators of your IT environment who are unsuitable for evaluating the correct classification or assignment of access rights. And we'll use a concrete solution as an example to show how easy it can be to implement DAG without compromising collaboration between employees in the company.
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