Employee File Sharing Behaviour Exposes SMEs To Risk

Symantec Corp. has announced that as online file sharing becomes increasingly common as a business practice, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are more at risk than ever before, according to the findings of its 2011 SME File Sharing Survey. The survey revealed that SME employees are increasingly adopting unmanaged, personal-use online file sharing solutions without permission from IT, part of the broader trend of the consumerisation of IT in which the adoption of online services for use on personal mobile devices blurs the lines between work and play. These early-adopter behaviors – like those driving the use of file sharing technology – are making organisations vulnerable to security threats and potential data loss.

“A staggering 71 percent of small businesses that suffer from a cyber attack never recover – it’s fatal,” said Rowan Trollope, Group President, SME and Cloud, Symantec. “As the fastest adopters of cloud technologies, such as file sharing, SMEs need to use safe practices, especially when using a solution that might not be built for businesses. As employees increasingly adopt consumer cloud services at work, the risk to SMEs only grows.”

Survey Highlights

Employees influence adoption of file sharing solutions internally: SME stakeholders recognise that file sharing helps drive productivity among employees. Seventy-four percent of respondents said they adopted online file sharing to bolster their own productivity. Also, 61 percent of respondents reported employees to be somewhat-to-extremely influential when it comes to adopting file sharing solutions internally, on par with mobile device usage (63 percent), PC/laptop/tablet usage (64 percent) and social media usage (53 percent).

Security and data loss are potential file sharing risks: Many respondents recognised the potential risks that poorly managed file sharing practices can bring into their organisations. Among respondents, risks cited as potential concerns included sharing confidential information using unapproved solutions (44 percent), malware (44 percent), loss of confidential or proprietary information (43 percent), breach of confidential information (41 percent), embarrassment or damage to brand/reputation (37 percent), and violating regulatory rules (34 percent). Moreover, the lack of policy enforcement also enhances risks for many respondents as more than one-fifth (22 percent) of respondents have not implemented policies restricting how employees can access and share files.

File sharing behaviours could expose SMEs to risk: Employee behaviours around file sharing indicate further potential for security risk. When asked what employees might do when they need to share a large file, respondents indicated they would either ask IT for help (51 percent), use a solution suggested by a customer, contractor or partner (42 percent), utilise the IT system in place (33 percent), or search online and download a free solution (27 percent). Furthermore, 41 percent indicated damaged brand reputation was a concern when it comes to file sharing.

Files are getting bigger: Many of the files shared internally and externally are significantly increasing in size. One in seven (14 percent) respondents reported the average size of files currently shared by their organisation to be more than 1 GB while three years ago, only 6 percent reported the average file size to be more than 1 GB.

SMEs are more distributed: Respondents indicated the number of employees working remotely and/or from home has gradually increased over the past three years, and the number is projected to increase. Respondents predicted that one year from now 37 percent of SME organisations will have employees working remotely (up 22 percent from three years ago and 32 percent today), and 32 percent will have employees who work from home (up 20 percent from three years ago, and 28 percent today).

Recommendations

Symantec recommends that SMEs implement some simple best practices to help ensure employees share files securely:

• Centralise file storage and management with a secure web-based system that is accessible regardless of device or location so that companies protect data outside the office walls.

• Implement access controls and permissions to keep private files safe and separate from work content.

• Maintain oversight into how and when business files are shared.

• Implement a scalable system that can grow with the business.