If you’re sharing any sort of information externally, then it’s important to stay on top of it. Over time, it can be easy to forget who has access to what, which could pose a risk to your business.
Fortunately, if you’re using Microsoft 365, there are many different tools that allow secure sharing. From Office apps and Teams to SharePoint and OneDrive, 365 was built for collaboration.
However, you can’t simply share and run.
Why monitor external sharing?
If you’re sharing any sort of information externally, then it’s important to stay on top of it. Over time, it can be easy to forget who has access to what, which could pose a risk to your business.
Keeping an eye on things ensures that no one has access to anything they shouldn’t have – and that no one has access to data for longer than necessary. It’s one of the best ways to keep your data safe and secure.
How to track shared files
If you use Microsoft 365, you’ll be able to set up an automatic, scheduled report which provides an overview of all externally shared files, and all guests with access.
Known as ‘Access Reviews’, it’s an efficient way to audit shared links. If you identify a file that others no longer need access to, you can edit permissions to ensure that it can’t be accessed or shared further by the outside guest.
Best practices for external data sharing
It’s inevitable that there will often be a need to share files and documents. However, there are some best practices that can be followed to reduce the risk, and help to increase the security of shared information:
- Assign expiry dates: If you’re sharing any sort of file in Microsoft 365 using the default ‘Anyone’ setting, you can assign an expiry date so that the link becomes invalid after so many days.
- Use session timeouts: When you share a document in 365, you can indicate that you want that document to be available for a specific period before requiring re-authentication from the user.
- Add sensitivity labels: Adding sensitivity labels to confidential data can reduce the risk of it being shared under loose protocols, prompting users to think about how they share sensitive information.
Keeping your data safe and secure is key. And at Reliable Networks, that’s what we do best.
