- Data and users are almost constantly in motion.
- Silos of data and users are numerous and almost constantly changing.
- The silos and users now span organizational and geographical boundaries.
- Data is shared at the speed of light.
Collaboration solutions themselves are not completely failing to protect your data, they are just not
adequately meeting the requirements for fully protecting sensitive content. As companies have moved to
strengthen identity and access security with multi-factor authentication instead of just usernames and
passwords, the same approach should be taken for securing sensitive content in social collaboration
tools.
Ironically, the solution lies within the data. By applying data-centric protection to the content itself you can
greatly mitigate the risks. Modern DLP, Rights Management, CASB and solutions that enable conditional
access to sensitive content provide the level of protection needed to properly secure collaboration. If
you’re using collaboration tools and not currently using (or even considering) these types of solutions,
chances are the integrity of your data has already been compromised.
When considering these categories of solutions be aware that not all of them have been created equally.
Several still apply protection based on the location or container with only a partial acknowledgement of
the nature of the content and very little consideration of the user context.
Be wary of the marketing messages that make them sound like they are applying data-centric principles
and still rely on (or have merely altered) location-based security practices. They also must provide
proactive protection as opposed to only reactive remediation. A small leak can quickly turn into a flood of
information with social collaboration. It may be too late to limit the damage by relying on detection and
remediation alone.
The benefits of collaboration tools far outweigh the risks. Applying a belt and suspenders approach with
proactive data-centric security ensures your organization can avoid common mishaps and fully reap the
rewards of secure collaboration.