Whether you’re sending big files across the room to a colleague or across the globe to a customer, every business needs secure, efficient file sharing.
But with so many providers out there, how does a small business owner separate the wheat from the chaff? Let’s take a look at the most important things to look for when sharing files:
Encryption
Encryption is an absolutely essential aspect of secure file sharing. Put simply, it means that if anyone nefarious manages to get their hands on your data—whether it’s being sent or being stored in a server—they won’t be able to understand it. All they will see is scrambled code.
Only those in an organisation with decryption keys will be able to make sense of it.
These days, most file sharing providers will offer encryption of some kind to keep your data safe. But there are different kinds of encryption—insist upon market-leading PGP encryption at transit and AES-256 encryption at rest for complete security.
Speed
Every business owner wants the most efficient means of sending and receiving files—that’s a given. And when you’re transmitting gigabytes and terabytes of information, speed is even more important.
Finding a fast supplier isn’t just dependant on getting great rates over one network—you should be finding someone who can help you send over a variety of protocols (including FTP, SFTP and HTTPS) thus ensuring that you can always send over the most efficient network.
Secure Passwords
Having safe passwords is in the very first chapter of Security 101. And yet you’ll be surprised how many business owners neglect this incredibly important facet—making it easy for hackers and untrustworthy peoples to find their way into your networks and potentially access your files.
We know that you’re a busy businessperson. That’s why you should choose a file sharing expert that makes insisting upon secure, multi-character passwords mandatory to keep your user accounts as safe as possible.
Detailed Controls
There are some file sharing providers that are merely a vehicle for companies to send and receive files quickly and (relatively) safely. And that’s it, which is fine.
But if you want to make sure that the right files are being seen by the right people and that sensitive data isn’t being leaked, it’s important to choose a data transfer partner that allows you to keep track on all sharing across your business.
A simple system that allows you to monitor where files are going—and limiting who can see them, if necessary—is a great way to maintain tight levels of security in your business.
Usability
Unfortunately, you can do all of the above things, but if you choose a secure file sharing partner that’s clunky, slow and awkward to use then it won’t get used. You have to remember that your colleagues and your third parties will be less interested than you in security, speed, branding and customer service.
If it’s not easy for them to send and receive files, then they’ll do it elsewhere on an insecure consumer-grade platform. And that causes an almighty security headache for you, as well as wasting your investment.
All of the great technological companies, from Google and Apple to Amazon and eBay, didn’t just grow huge because they had a great product, but because they were easier to use than the opposition. So choose a platform that makes sharing simple and effective.
Top usability isn’t just great for your stakeholders—it also makes your job easier too. Highly-usable systems make reporting and administering rules simple and efficient. What’s not to like?
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This post was contributed by Georgina Park on behalf of Maytech, a company with expertise in multi-platform secure file sharing to help businesses across the world send and receive files simply and effectively with secure data transfer.