Everyone in our industry knew this one was coming. According to reports, “a stolen password was used to access an employee Dropbox account containing a project document with user email addresses. Those stolen passwords were then used by hackers to spam e-mail addresses. Further, usernames and passwords obtained by the spamming effort were then used to “sign in to a small number of Dropbox accounts.” Here is another great example of why you and your organization need to think carefully about public cloud services.
The companies out there who took a stand on security policy and have banned Dropbox and other public file sharing services from their networks are looking pretty smart right now. But are they simultaneously stifling their employees in the process?
The problem is that big data is getting bigger and people need to share things faster in order to stay competitive and productive. People need to collaborate in real-time, sharing huge amounts of media, pivot tables, databases etc… If your organization doesn’t have an approved method of sharing files beyond gigantic email attachments, well … You are asking for trouble. They will find a way to get files back and forth because they have to. As the old adage goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
If you and your IT team haven’t talked about a secure, enterprise-class file sharing solution yet … You probably should. Happily, there are some pretty great options out there. And come to think of it, I know a great IT team that can help you get that discussion started … *wink*
