External file sharing in Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint offer collaboration benefits, but they also raise security and compliance concerns for system administrators. Here are some of their biggest worries:
- Data Loss: Accidental sharing of sensitive data with unauthorized users can lead to data breaches and regulatory fines.
- Lack of Control: Granular permissions and access controls are crucial to ensure only the right people see the right files. With many users sharing files, administrators may struggle to maintain control.
- Shadow IT: Users might bypass official channels and use unsecured personal cloud storage for external sharing, creating blind spots for IT.
- Visibility and Auditing: Tracking who has access to what files and for how long is essential for security and compliance audits. Manual methods can be time-consuming and error-prone.
- User Education: Even with policies in place, user awareness of secure sharing practices is vital. Encouraging good habits can be challenging.
Relief with Tricent
Tricent, as a file-sharing governance platform, can help administrators mitigate these concerns by:
- Automated Policy Enforcement: Set pre-defined rules for external sharing, like allowed file types, access expiry dates, and recipient domains. This reduces the risk of accidental data leaks.
- Granular Permission Management: Define specific access levels for external users, ensuring they only see what they need.
- Centralized Visibility: Gain a clear view of all external sharing activities across OneDrive and SharePoint in a single dashboard. Identify potential risks and take corrective actions.
- Streamlined Auditing: Tricent simplifies audit trails and reporting, making it easier to comply with data privacy regulations.
- User Training Integration: Integrate user training modules within Tricent to educate employees about secure sharing practices.
By automating tasks, providing centralized control, and improving user awareness, Tricent helps administrators achieve a balance between secure collaboration and efficient workflows.
Automate your SharePoint’s external sharing rules with Tricent
Managing top-level settings for multiple SharePoint sites can quickly become overwhelming. This is especially true for large multinational organizations.
We built Tricent to make compliance automation and sharing rules management faster, easier, and less manual.
Our tool lets you:
- Perform comprehensive audits of all shared SharePoint items in seconds
- Gain a comprehensive overview of all files shared and permissions granted—across both personal drives and SharePoint drives
- Administrate bulk remediation
- Set blanket sharing rules for SharePoint in a more intuitive way
- Involve end-users in auditing their own shared items
- …and more.
As a Microsoft partner, our tool meets their highest security standards. You can read more about it here: https://www.tricent.com/products/microsoft-365/
Want to test it out for yourself?
Calculate your digital footprint.
If you are concerned about your company’s exposure level, try our FREE RISK CALCULATOR and get a benchmark estimate on your exposure to your external file sharing.
