An unseen impact of the Coronavirus has been to ignite a revolution in remote working. Sure, a lot of companies offer the possibility of working from home, but it’s never been employed on such a massive scale. The number of people who have discovered they can work effectively from home in recent weeks may just have transformed the way we think about work forever. But, it must also improve the way we think about data security.

Remote working productivity applications, such as file-sharing and collaboration tools, allow geographically dispersed workers to break down the barriers of location and work as effectively as they might in an office environment.

However, the very nature of remote working exposes organisations to a broad spectrum of cyber-security issues. The influx of user-owned devices requesting access to the network, the increase in email traffic and file-sharing behaviour, even the migration of workflows to the cloud; all generate an increased risk of data breaches and expose business critical IT systems to malicious content.

As organisations, and individual users, embrace file-sharing practices that sit outside the traditional in-house IT and security teams, they need to adopt a risk-averse approach to collaboration. Next-generation productivity and file-sharing security solutions offer the ideal combination of familiarity, usability and security; without compromising on productivity.

Secure File-Sharing and Collaboration

Remote workers, whether working from home or any location, often utilise unprotected, public networks. The productivity application tools used are also vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The files and data they exchange expose the organisation, employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to a range of threats, including breaches of privacy and stolen IP. SureDrop® from Senetas is the encrypted collaboration and file sharing application that protects organisations against the negative impact of a data breach.

Because SureDrop provides seamless integration with Office 365 and Azure, it’s convenient and simple to use as well as secure. As a cloud enabled application, SureDrop and workgroup files are available everywhere, anytime. No other ‘box-like’ service enables the same level of security.

SureDrop also offers seamless integration with Votiro Disarmer, the next-generation Content Disarm & Reconstruction (CDR) solution. Because remote workers represent a point of vulnerability and are susceptible to malicious content attacks, it is essential they are protected from both known and unknown malware threats.

Conventional productivity, collaboration and anti-malware solutions fall short of the security standards required to protect modern borderless IT infrastructures. The activities of the remote workers relying upon the productivity applications provided are exposed to an increasing threat landscape.

Whilst tools like VPN help, they don’t offer the extensive business purpose security and protection of SureDrop. Today’s business confidential and IP data, financial and other privacy data all demand next generation encryption and other security features.

Remote workers’ increased dependence upon email is also a serious security issue, especially when attachments are involved. Widely recognised as an unsecure communications tool, email particularly adds threats of malware attacks, both known and unknown.

Votiro Disarmer provides maximum protection against known, unknown and zero-day attacks. Its patented award-winning technology has been tried and tested by major organisations around the world.

SureDrop was designed by Senetas with security in mind, so it offers everything a remote worker needs – file sharing, collaboration, storage, and eliminates the need to attach files to emails. Together, SureDrop and Votiro Disarmer enable organisations to provide remote workers with a high security, high productivity solution.

Although remote working and its dependence upon productivity applications has not changed since Covid-19 first appeared; the impact of the virus on worker behaviour and the exponential increase in remote workers have added significantly to the threat profile – data breaches, malware attacks and the multitude of attack vectors that will be exploited by cyber-criminals.

Organisations must now move quickly to ensure their productivity applications provide the protection essential for the security of all stakeholders.

Useful links:

SureDrop secure file-sharing & collaboration

Votiro Disarmer

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