Access rights for enterprise file sharing boil down to having secure solutions for controlling who, what, where, when and how files are accessed.
As today’s workforce becomes more mobile and file access demands expand, IT teams need an enterprise file sharing platform with robust access rights control.
The more access rights dimensions an IT department has control over, the more flexibility workers have in accessing enterprise data and the more security parameters IT is able to control.
Consider these five overlooked but highly valuable access rights controls needed for mobile workforce management.
1) Time-based controls: Who can access data and what’s accessible is a standard feature for secure enterprise file sharing platforms. But most solutions don’t allow for control over when a file may be accessed. However, enterprise file access rights and timing controls are worthwhile considerations.
For example, if you’re sending a file to an external party, you could set that secure link to expire after 24 hours or once the link is accessed to ensure the information isn’t left exposed.
Additionally, there are many reasons why an organization wouldn’t want to allow 24/7 access to company files. For instance, if an employee is on an extended vacation and not expected to work, they don’t need access to company files during that time. As another example, a day trading firm has regulations on when trades are allowed. To avoid SEC penalties, the company may not permit traders to access files after business hours.
2) Network segment limitation: Sophisticated cyber attacks are difficult for IT security teams to pinpoint. But if your servers are attacked (with malware, for example) from consistent IP segments, you should be able to block those segments. Seek an enterprise file sharing solution with access rights controls that also allow you to block your employees from inadvertently accessing data from such IP segments. Network segment limitation is often overlooked because efforts are focused on limiting access elsewhere, but it’s useful for organizations with a well-defined branch/remote office network. Such organizations can restrict users to within the branch office/remote office IP network ranges.
3) Micro-containerization and digital/information rights management (DRM/IRM): This capability isn’t so much overlooked, as it is brand new. Containerization is an access right control that protects everything within the data container. Data containerization is generally quite secure, but if a breach occurs, any data within the container is exposed.
Micro-containerization takes that access control a step further by creating containers within the container. This extra layer of security ensures that even if there’s a container breach, your data is still segmented in secure micro-containers. This means if an end user sends a PowerPoint file, it’s sent in a container protected by digital rights management (DRM) or information rights management (IRM) parameters set by the IT department. Depending on the access controls designed for that PowerPoint file, it could only be opened by one unique user or a select group of people.
4) Device-type access restriction: Your organization might need to restrict the type of devices your enterprise data may be accessed from. The most robust enterprise file sharing solutions have the power to control whether secure files may be opened on mobile devices, laptops or desktop computers. IT departments for organizations that host privileged information have a compelling interest to keep that information within the organization. Only allowing such data to be sent from immobile, desktop workstations provides an added layer of file security.
5) Information exchange: The most overlooked piece of access rights management isn’t necessarily tied to mobility, but it’s still important. Organizations that accept and manage significant incoming information from multiple external sources need a secure place for that data to land. This could be a common, secure folder on a corporate network that allows the external collection/exchange of sensitive information with third parties.
Collecting this external data is the first step in a series of internal processes. For example, a loan officer collects sensitive information from banks, creditors and employers. All of this incoming information must land somewhere initially, and a secure folder on a network is the perfect solution. Having this folder as a secure starting point makes it much easier to collect data up front and begin working on it internally.
Remember, the more robust access rights management your enterprise file sharing platform offers, the more confidence you’ll have that your data is secure.
