to contain confidential information, 165% more likely to contain identification numbers and 6%
more likely to contain passwords.- The exposure of information to unauthorized audiences, and even the public, due to
misconfiguration of sharing settings is a pervasive issue. Marquee companies, including Apple,
Box and Discovery Network exposed their sensitive corporate and customer data due to the
incorrect use of public sharing links.
These changing collaboration paradigms, as well as existing and emerging challenges, underscore the
need to adapt data-centric security strategies to protect assets from threats.
Sensitive data is more than what’s regulated
The data leaks that hit the headlines typically involve standard sensitive data types such as personally
identifiable information (PII), protected healthcare information (PHI) or financial data (e.g. credit card
numbers). However, after your employees, your organization’s information is your most valuable asset.
Sensitive data also includes information that is confidential or critical to the business, and would be
damaging if leaked: IP, board documents, M&A documents, HR files, supplier information, etc. With that
definition in mind, we can’t just leave concerns about data protection to the compliance department.
New data governance challenges
IT has struggled with knowing where sensitive business data resides within the enterprise. That
challenge is getting worse with the rise of enterprise social tools that create new channels and “places
of residence” for sensitive information to live.
Previously, IT attempted to define locations to store sensitive data, but the inherent nature of collaboration
tools makes that approach archaic because users want to control how and where they share information
with their team. They do not want to go to different data locations or use multiple tools to collaborate on
multiple types of content. Everything must be at a user’s fingertips to maximize productivity and ensure
adoption. As a result, our business data is now in an almost constant state of motion between users,
devices and physical locations thanks to an increasingly mobile workforce.
Consequently, there are vast numbers of new data silos being created by collaboration tools that often
have little, if any, insight or protections for sensitive data. Couple that with social technologies bringing