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What is HIPAA compliant cloud storage? 

Since its passage in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has helped to reshape the security and efficiency of healthcare services. HIPAA contains five sections (also known as titles), each of which details specific provisions or requirements that HIPAA-covered entities must meet.

HIPAA regulations impact every facet of data protection and security, including how information is stored. If a company handles protected health information (PHI), it’s important that they are able to identify and safeguard against threats that could compromise this sensitive data.

Healthcare organizations are increasingly shifting their data storage to the cloud to facilitate better access to critical resources. HIPAA-compliant cloud storage offers several important provisions to enhance data security, such as industry-specific applications, servers, and tools.

In this article, we will detail how cloud storage can be HIPAA compliant, including the differences between public, private, and hybrid cloud solutions. We will also identify top considerations when evaluating cloud storage options for HIPAA compliance and what types of organizations must adhere to these regulations.

Who Needs HIPAA Compliant Cloud Storage?

While HIPAA rules establish important protections for PHI, this doesn’t mean that HIPAA only applies to healthcare providers. HIPAA rules identify the following as covered entities:

  • Healthcare providers who transmit health information in an electronic form.

  • Health plans such as health insurance companies, company insurance plans, and government programs that pay for healthcare (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid).

In addition, any business associate that helps a covered entity facilitate its healthcare functions and activities must also comply with HIPAA. Because a business associate could be in a position to view, handle, or transmit sensitive health data, they must follow the same rules as covered entities.

Examples of business associates that are HIPAA-covered entities include the following:

  • Cloud service provider (CSP)
  • Data storage companies
  • Claims processors
  • CPA firms
  • Medical transcriptionists

Why Cloud Storage is Increasingly Popular in the Healthcare Field

HIPAA’s Security Rule requires covered entities and their business associates to provide “reasonable and appropriate safeguards” to protect PHI. However, many healthcare organizations still rely on outdated legacy systems that are vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Legacy systems run on older platforms that cannot be updated with the latest security standards. Around 83% of medical devices run on outdated, unsupported operating systems. In addition, more than half of healthcare providers rely on legacy Windows 7 systems, which stopped receiving vendor support in 2020.

Rather than leveraging the latest access and privacy controls, IT teams have to piecemeal solutions to support patches and tools. Despite their stringent security requirements, 27% of healthcare companies exclusively leverage legacy data centers with no cloud connectivity.

This reliance on outdated technologies makes healthcare organizations a popular target for ransomware attacks. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the healthcare sector is one of the most frequently targeted industries for ransomware groups.

For example, more than 10,000 individuals were impacted when an Ohio-based mental health clinic suffered a hacking incident. Between November 2021 and January 2022, an unauthorized individual accessed and removed files from a legacy system. The files contained highly sensitive information, such as names, treatment plans, and health insurance data.

In addition to security risks, healthcare entities are increasingly turning to the cloud to offset the costs associated with legacy systems. Up to 64% of IT budgets go to maintaining legacy systems, which makes cloud storage an easy way to reduce costs while improving data security.

Thanks to the cost savings and enhanced security offered by HIPAA-compliant cloud storage, the cloud computing market is expected to grow by $25.54 billion by 2024.

How Cloud Storage Can Be HIPAA Compliant

Not all cloud storage solutions are equally secure, and the type of cloud impacts security considerations. This is because data protection practices are a shared responsibility between the covered entity and the CSP, which is considered a business associated under HIPAA.

As you evaluate various cloud storage solutions for your organization, you need to ensure that you choose one that is HIPAA compliant. In addition to compliance requirements, you also need to determine if a particular solution aligns with your unique business needs.

There are three main types of cloud solutions:

  • Public
  • Private
  • Hybrid

Evaluating Public Clouds

Public clouds are available via third-party providers who deliver services to multiple organizations. Highly scalable and flexible, public clouds must be properly configured to keep data safe. Otherwise, misconfigurations can lead to compliance drift, which occurs when errors or oversights compromise data security.

A public cloud allows for lower-cost subscription-based pricing. However, this affordability is countered by a lack of cost control. Your total cost of ownership (TCO) can rise quickly due to conditions like holding duplicate or unnecessary data files. Cloud storage spending accounts for about 30% of a company’s IT budget, and redundant or unneeded data can cost you thousands of dollars in storage and management fees.

Evaluating Private Clouds

A private cloud is dedicated to the needs of a single organization. This is a single-tenancy environment, which means that the resources hosted and managed in a private cloud are not shared with other users. The increased security comes at the cost of increased maintenance requirements for the healthcare organization.

Because a private cloud is dedicated to your company’s use, it has the benefit of greater visibility and control over sensitive data. On the other hand, the nature of a private cloud means that its reliability depends on the staff, software, and hardware running it. These operating and managerial costs can greatly impact your overall cloud spend.

Evaluating Hybrid Clouds

Often, the security features available in public cloud environments are not enough to safeguard sensitive data. Private clouds, however, have additional levels of security and access controls, but are not always ideal for mobile or offsite access.

Hybrid clouds pull from the best characteristics of third-party public cloud services and on-premises private cloud models. This enables healthcare entities to base security parameters on their specific compliance requirements.

In a hybrid cloud, healthcare entities can secure PHI on an on-premises private cloud and host non-critical data on the public cloud infrastructure. According to the Cloud Index Report, more than half of healthcare organizations have increased their hybrid cloud adoption, which was the preferred choice for 83% of respondents.

Top Considerations for HIPAA Compliant Cloud Storage Solutions

HIPAA compliant cloud storage providers offer the following features and services to enhance data security:

  • Business Associate Agreement (BAA). As a business associate of a covered entity, cloud storage providers must have a BAA in place with the healthcare entity. This agreement is required by HIPAA and specifies each party’s responsibilities relating to the protection of PHI.

  • Strong data encryption. Encrypting data keeps it safe from unauthorized access and compromise. HIPAA requires PHI to be encrypted at rest and in transit, and unencrypted data can lead to costly noncompliance penalties if the information is compromised in a data breach.

  • Long-term data retention. Each state sets its own requirements for the retention of medical records. In addition, HIPAA requires that HIPAA-related documents are maintained for at least six years, such as risk assessments, BAAs, access logs, and security system reviews, among others.

  • System and Organization Controls (SOC) certification. SOC audits ensure that data storage providers have the correct controls in place to securely manage your data. If a cloud provider does not have proof of SOC 2 Type II certification, then they should be avoided.

The Importance of Secure, HIPAA Compliant Storage

Healthcare data breaches have increased sharply in 2022, in large part due to the fact that PHI is more valuable than other types of information. For example, credit cards sell for about $5 a piece on the dark web, but a medical record PDF could go for around $250.

Theft and exploitation of PHI data has costly ramifications. On average, a healthcare data breach costs around $10.1 million. If the organization is found to be at fault for violating HIPAA requirements, they could be faced with monetary penalties exceeding $1.7 million in addition to other corrective actions, as well as the costs incurred from class action lawsuits, attack investigation, and remediation.

According to HHS data, 2021 saw more data breaches than any other year since it first started publishing summaries of healthcare data breaches in 2009. The healthcare sector has also seen the highest increase in volume in cyberattacks—69% year over year. In 2021, 66% of organizations in the industry experienced a ransomware attack compared to 34% the year prior.

When it comes to evaluating cloud storage solutions for HIPAA compliance, organizations must conduct risk assessments to ensure that the solution meets HIPAA’s administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. This is why it’s important to look for service providers who will not only implement these safeguards, but who will also sign BAAs with HIPAA covered entities.

For example, Apple iCloud does not constitute a HIPAA compliant cloud storage solution because it doesn’t offer a BAA for covered entities. In cases where the provider has signed a BAA, misconfigurations can render the agreement useless. For example, if access controls and permissions are not set correctly, PHI data can be left unprotected.

How WinZip Enterprise Enhances Cloud Security

WinZip® Enterprise is a highly customizable solution that helps healthcare organizations meet the requirements of HIPAA’s data security standards. Using FIPS 140-2 validated AES encryption, WinZip Enterprise protects data at rest in the cloud and in transit between the cloud and your various devices, networks, and servers.

File-level encryption gives you additional levels of control over key security considerations, such as access controls and system monitoring. This ensures that users cannot access more than what they need for their job role and helps you identify suspicious or negligent behaviors that can leave data vulnerable to theft or tampering.

WinZip Enterprise offers native integration with top-rated HIPAA-compliant cloud storage services, including G Suite, OneDrive, Box, and AWS. In addition, its data compression capabilities help minimize your cloud storage costs.

Learn how WinZip Enterprise can boost the security of a cloud storage solution and help make it HIPAA compliant.

Why is file security important at the enterprise level?

From supply chain attacks to ransomware, phishing attacks, and more, enterprise-level organizations face a host of cybersecurity challenges.

Since 50% of all cyberattacks target small to medium-sized enterprises, it’s crucial for growing businesses to take preventative steps to avert the theft or tampering of sensitive company information.

Organizational files often contain valuable data that, if compromised, could have a negative impact on a company’s financial status and public reputation. Despite the risk, most businesses only implement security provisions at the database, network, or endpoint level.

Without file-level security, a malicious actor will have access to every piece of data stored in a breached database, network, or device. Once an employee sends a file by email, shares links online, or places files in an unsecured cloud environment, they will have potentially exposed sensitive information to cybercriminals.

File security protects the important business-related information that organizational files and folders contain. It is a subset of data security that adds an additional layer of protection to your organization’s data inventory.

According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach was $4.24 million in 2021, which was the highest average on record to date. It’s crucial for enterprises to maintain a comprehensive file security plan to safeguard business-critical information.

Without a proper file security plan in place, organizations will face a number of data security challenges including phishing attacks, unauthorized access of company data, data interception due to outdated security functionalities, and even data breaches due to the physical theft of hardware devices.

Enterprises can easily avoid these challenges by following data security best practices, including implementing strict access controls, securing network endpoints, adequately educating your team on file security protocols, and encrypting physical hardware, software backups, and network files.

In this article, we will explore file security best practices, the consequences of poor file security for organizations, and how to leverage WinZip® Enterprise to protect your organizational data.

File Security Best Practices for Organizations

A robust file security management plan ensures your business data stays secure. This comprehensive strategy should address several processes to ensure the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of data files.

Implement the following best practices to ensure that your company data is protected in the event of a security breach:

Manage Access and Permissions

Access control systems enable IT teams to customize access privileges for sensitive data and other company resources. When implementing access controls, it’s important to leverage permission-based user roles to reduce the opportunity for unauthorized access.

These permission-based user roles follow the principle of least privilege (POLP), which limits user access rights to only what is necessary to complete their job duties. Access controls should be audited regularly to ensure that POLP still applies, and that no user has access above what they need for their role.

These audit logs can also be used to identify unusual behavior or unsafe practices that could lead to file compromise. By limiting who has access to what, you reduce the attack surface for unauthorized access.

Protect Your Network Endpoints

Endpoint security is concerned with the protection of company networks and all the devices that are connected to it.

Network endpoints are remote computing devices that virtually connect to a corporate network. Network endpoints commonly used in the workplace include:

  • Laptops
  • Desktops
  • Mobile devices and tablets
  • Wearable technology
  • Workstations
  • Servers
  • Other access points

Network endpoints are growing in popularity as more businesses embrace remote and hybrid work environments. However, these devices can be the source of data loss if they are lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised.

Without adequate security controls, endpoint devices can serve as entry points for cybercriminals to infiltrate the corporate network. For example, malicious actors can leverage an unsecured Wi-Fi connection to intercept files stored or shared to endpoint devices.

You cannot protect what you don’t know you have. All of your company’s network endpoints should be identified and monitored closely by your organization’s network security team. Endpoint devices can be secured using solutions such as firewalls, access controls, antivirus software, and data encryption.

Raise Awareness of Security Protocols

The risk of human error is increased when an organization does not properly inform its personnel of company security protocols. After all, how are employees supposed to ensure they follow security protocols if they don’t know what they entail?

Be sure to encourage your team to follow these basic security protocols when dealing with sensitive company information:

  • Identify and report suspicious network activity, such as emails or texts, from unknown sources to avoid phishing attacks.

  • Install software updates as soon as they become available to mitigate the risk of cyberattacks.

  • Avoid reusing passwords and update passwords on a regular basis.

Secure Removable Storage Media and Backups

Removable storage media such as thumb drives, memory sticks, and other portable storage devices can be easily lost or stolen. If these devices fall into the hands of unauthorized users, it can result in a company data breach.

Storage devices are also key sources of malware; a single infected device could compromise the company’s entire network system and files. By encrypting the data that resides on your removable storage media, organizations can avoid the loss of important business-related data.

Backup files should also be encrypted, as they make it possible to restore data that has been compromised, lost, or stolen. Backup data encryption adds an extra layer of security to crucial company data, ensuring that authorized users can access the information they need when they need it.

Secure Removable Storage Media and Backups

Removable storage media such as thumb drives, memory sticks, and other portable storage devices can be easily lost or stolen. If these devices fall into the hands of unauthorized users, it can result in a company data breach.

Storage devices are also key sources of malware; a single infected device could compromise the company’s entire network system and files. By encrypting the data that resides on your removable storage media, organizations can avoid the loss of important business-related data.

Backup files should also be encrypted, as they make it possible to restore data that has been compromised, lost, or stolen. Backup data encryption adds an extra layer of security to crucial company data, ensuring that authorized users can access the information they need when they need it.

Implement File-Level Encryption

During the second quarter of 2022, internet users around the world saw about 52 million data breaches. Sharing files online or over the cloud is a common practice in today’s business world. However, this advancement in file sharing practices brings an all too familiar set of security challenges. Unsecure file sharing practices could leave an organization’s computer network vulnerable to malware infections that may result in the loss or exposure of sensitive information. leave an organization’s computer network vulnerable to malware infections that may result in the loss or exposure of sensitive information.

To ensure secure file sharing, enterprises should practice file encryption. File encryption makes it so that only authorized users can access their company data. The information contained within the file is useless and unreadable to cybercriminals because it is inaccessible without the decryption key.

Encrypting at the file level gives businesses increased visibility and control over their data. This reduces the risk of both insider and third-party threats while helping you remain compliant with relevant regulatory requirements.

Examples of relevant data security regulations include the Gramm-Leach-Bliley-Act (GLBA) that requires financial institutions to encrypt both data at rest and in transit on external networks or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that requires healthcare institutions to adhere to the privacy, security, and breach notification rules that seek to protect sensitive patient data.

Consequences of Poor File Security

It’s crucial for enterprises to implement file security measures that meet all applicable data protection regulations to keep their business data secure. When the security of company files is not appropriately managed, the following consequences may occur:

Operational Downtime

During a cybersecurity incident, companies often experience operational downtime. When files are lost or compromised, you cannot resume normal operational processes until the data is recovered. Following a cybersecurity event, around 30% of businesses temporarily or permanently suspend operations.

In larger enterprises, a single hour of downtime can cost around $700,000. This means that downtime can impact your profitability even more than the cybersecurity event itself. For example, downtime after suffering a ransomware attack can be 50 times greater in cost than the ransom demand.

Loss of Critical Data

Ransomware attacks are one of the most common threats to the security of enterprise computer systems today. During these attacks, cybercriminals deploy ransomware, which is a type of malware that encrypts files, rendering them unusable.

In exchange for decrypting the compromised files, malicious cybercriminals will often demand that the business pay a steep ransom. However, even if your organization does pay this fee, there is no guarantee that you will be able to regain access to your compromised files.

To make matters worse, the majority of companies that pay the ransom are attacked again. In fact, only 42% of companies were able to restore their data systems after the initial payment and 80% of companies that paid ransoms to cyberattackers were hit a second time. Subsequent attacks also tend to increase the amount of ransom demanded, and you’re still at risk of having company data sold on the dark web or compromised by the cybercriminal’s faulty decryption tools.

Human Error

Data breaches caused by human error prove detrimental to a company’s bottom line. According to Uptime’s 2022 annual Outage Analysis report, nearly 40% of organizations have suffered a major service outage caused by human error over the past three years.

Examples of security risks caused by human error include working on unsecured Wi-Fi networks, sharing unencrypted files, and using weak passwords, among others. Operating outside of the organization’s defined security standards is typically the result of employees not understanding the risks inherent in handling sensitive data.

By monitoring and controlling who has access to what data, you are better able to detect and mitigate vulnerabilities caused by human error. This reduces the possibility of shadow IT, which occurs when people use unknown, unauthorized solutions for work purposes.

Reputational Damage

In 2021, 212.4 million users were affected by company data breaches. When a company’s sensitive information is breached by malicious actors, 83% of customers will refuse to continue using its products or services.

The reputational damage caused by a data breach can impact company performance for years to come. For example, following a breach, organizations tend to underperform by 15% on the stock market for up to three years.

Data breaches diminish customer trust and tend to push customers toward competitor services. In addition to lost revenue from operational downtime, reputational losses and customer turnover can cost businesses around $1.59 million for the average $4.24 million security breach. By putting in place and maintaining industry-standard file security measures, enterprises can ensure that their company’s reputation remains intact.

How WinZip Enterprise Enhances File Security

Most enterprise-level organizations are tasked with managing the security of robust catalogs of files spread across various company computer systems. Leverage WinZip Enterprise to help protect your critical business data from unauthorized access and avoid the consequences of poor file security.

WinZip Enterprise is a customizable set of enterprise-grade tools that can help your company set and enforce security policies across your entire organization. This includes secure backup, file transfer, and encryption features, among others.

WinZip Enterprise is also compatible with a wide-range of enterprise-grade cloud file sharing and file storage platforms such as Google Cloud and Office 365 Business. By syncing WinZip Enterprise with these programs, your organization can ensure that your company data is encrypted securely.

WinZip Enterprise emphasizes file-level encryption at all data stages, using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) format, commonly used by government agencies to protect classified and sensitive data. AES encryption is FIPS 140-2 compliant, making it an optimal solution for industries that must abide by strict data security regulations., making it an optimal solution for industries that must abide by strict data security regulations.

Discover how WinZip Enterprise can help your organization maintain proper file security and avoid negative consequences.

HIPAA and PII: How they are connected 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides national standards to improve efficiency and combat fraud in the medical industry. When it was first signed into law in 1996, the primary intention was to better regulate the health insurance industry.

However, HIPAA also made it possible for the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) to set standards that protect the privacy of patient health information. In 2000 and 2003, respectively, HHS published the Privacy and Security Rules as HIPAA provisions.

The purpose of amending HIPAA to add the Security Rule and Privacy Rule was to better safeguard an individual’s health information as it is shared between healthcare providers, health plans, and other organizations. Under HIPPA, this information is known as protected health information or PHI.

Protected health information is a subset of personally identifiable information, or PII. While PHI and PII share common traits, they are not the same. Anything that directly or indirectly relates to an individual and makes it possible to determine their identity is PII.

On its own, PII does not constitute PHI and is not subject to HIPAA regulations. However, PII data that is created, collected, transmitted, or maintained by a covered entity is a different matter.

In this article, we will explore the connection between HIPAA, PII, and PHI, as well as strategies for keeping your organizational data HIPAA-compliant.

How PII impacts HIPAA compliance

Health information is anything that relates to past, present, and future health conditions. This includes both mental and physical health, as well as information related to provision of or payment for healthcare services.

HIPAA restricts the use and disclosure of health information that allows an individual to be identified. There are 18 identifiers HIPAA uses to denote PHI, such as account numbers, medical record numbers, and health insurance beneficiary numbers.

Other personally identifiable information, such as addresses and phone numbers, are not considered PHI. However, if the information is paired with any specific health information, the PII data falls under the umbrella of PHI and is protected under HIPAA.

The best way to understand the connection between HIPPA and PII is this: All protected health information contains personally identifiable data, but not all personally identifiable information contains protected health data.

Unauthorized access or misuse of PHI can have severe consequences for affected individuals as well as the organization responsible for protecting the data. Personal medical data is 10–15 times more valuable than credit card data.

This is because a single healthcare record could contain several types of personal information, including date of birth, financial details, address, and more. With all this sensitive information at hand, cybercriminals can commit identity theft, open credit cards in the individual’s name, and launder the PHI before selling it to other businesses.

Cybercriminals can even use PHI to receive medical care under the individual’s name. When this happens, the victim could be faced with medical debt for treatments they did not authorize or receive.

Safeguarding your organizational data

Healthcare-related companies must meet HIPAA’s requirements for data privacy and security. One component of this is data classification, which separates data by its type, sensitivity, and the risks associated with its compromise.

Both PHI and PII fall under the classification of restricted data. This means the information is highly sensitive and should be prioritized when developing data security controls. For example, organizations often encrypt their most sensitive data classifications to ensure that information is unusable to anyone without the correct encryption key.

Without adequate measures in place to protect PHI in datasets, a data breach could have consequences beyond the breach itself. Unencrypted PHI that is compromised in a breach must be reported to the affected individuals under HIPAA’s Breach Notification Rule.

Had the data been encrypted, the breach notification requirement would not apply. This is because HIPAA does not consider breaches of encrypted PHI to be reportable security incidents (except for circumstances where the key is also compromised).

To better understand why data breaches that expose PII are particularly damaging for healthcare organizations, consider these recent events:

  • SuperCare Health, a respiratory care provider, suffered a data breach in July 2021 that affected more than 318,000 individuals’ PII. According to a proposed class action lawsuit, the hacking incident occurred because the company failed to implement reasonable security measures.
    Specifically, the complaint alleges that the PHI and PII in the compromised files were not encrypted.

  • In February 2022, a debt collections agency experienced a ransomware attack that exposed more than 2 million patients’ data. Several class action lawsuits have already been filed against the company. The documents allege that Professional Finance Company (PFC) failed to properly secure its data. It is still not clear how many records were compromised in the attack, but it impacted 657 HIPPA-covered entities.

How WinZip Enterprise helps protect PII

In our current digital landscape where cybercriminals can breach 93% of company networks, safeguards such as data encryption are more important than ever. However, most companies are only encrypting data when it is at rest, leaving in-transit files vulnerable to interception.

WinZip® Enterprise is a powerful, customizable solution that offers simplified, file-level encryption wherever your files are. It encrypts files with AES encryption, ensuring that PII and PHI data is protected whether it is at rest or in transit. With centralized IT controls, you can customize your file sharing, backups, and security policies to fit your needs.

Discover how WinZip Enterprise helps organizations protect PII and stay HIPAA-compliant.

WinZip 27 is here and available for purchase or upgrade! 

From extensive file format compatibility to seamless cloud integration, WinZip® is packed with all the tools and features you need to work with complete protection and accelerated productivity, at home or at the office.

While security has always been an integral part of WinZip products, the addition of WinZip SafeShare to the existing group of WinZip productivity apps makes it even easier to share, compress, and encrypt files in a couple of quick clicks.

New and enhanced features in WinZip 27

Experience productivity beyond compression with exclusive WinZip applications at your fingertips.

NEW! WinZip SafeShare
A modernized sharing experience, this solution enables you to share your files with confidence and security in an intuitive environment built with simplicity in mind. This powerful sharing tool enables you to share, compress, and encrypt files, all within a simple interface. Easily share to one or many locations, surrounded by extra layers of security, including military-grade AES encryption and time bomb capabilities.

NEW! WinZip Duplicate File Finder
Save valuable time and space on your computer with the all-new deduplication utility, now available as a desktop application. Duplicate files often go unnoticed and manually identifying duplicates can be time consuming and complex. WinZip offers a quick and effortless solution, complete with presets and automation options as well as customizable detection and verification notifications for added security.

ENHANCED! WinZip PDF Express
Far more than your basic PDF reader, this solution now features improved performance and usability. Multipurpose capabilities include the ability to export a PDF to Word, image file, or create a PDF from any document. Reorder, add or delete pages, and easily combine multiple documents into a single PDF. Add a custom watermark, secure your content, and share anywhere.

ENHANCED! WinZip Image Manager
Now with improved performance and usability, this solution enables you to organize, share, and confidently secure all your pictures in one dedicated app. Easily convert formats, rotate, resize, and crop for single or multiple images. Increased security lets you remove camera information and EXIF data— including GPS location—and enables lossless compression and bank-grade encryption.

To learn more about the newest updates, please refer to the WinZip 27 web page.

Pricing and availability

The WinZip 27 product line is available in nine languages, including English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Simplified Chinese. WinZip 27 Pro is available from www.winzip.com for $49.95 USD / £51.54 / €59.44 (in Germany). WinZip 27 is available from www.winzip.com for $29.95 USD / £31.14 / €35.64 (in Germany). All prices in British Pounds and Euros include VAT.

For information about WinZip 27 Enterprise licensing options, please visit www.winzip.com/enterprise.

About WinZip

WinZip is trusted by millions of businesses and consumers to boost productivity, simplify file sharing, and keep information private. Offering apps for all of today’s most popular platforms and devices, WinZip gives users a better way to manage and share files in the cloud, over email, and via instant messaging. The WinZip product line also includes powerful utilities to improve system performance and help keep Windows and Mac PCs secure. WinZip is part of the Alludo portfolio. For more information about WinZip, please visit www.winzip.com.

About Alludo

Alludo is a global technology company helping people work better and live better. We’re the people behind award-winning, globally recognizable brands including Parallels®, CorelDRAW®, MindManager®, and WinZip®. Our professional-caliber graphics, virtualization, and productivity solutions are finely tuned for the digital remote workforce delivering the freedom to work when, where, and how you want. With a 35+ year legacy of innovation, Alludo empowers all you do by helping more than 2.5 million paying customers to enable, ideate, create, and share on any device, anywhere. To learn more, visit www.alludo.com.

Secure file sharing for business: a best practice guide 

In today’s increasingly digital world, both remote/hybrid work environments and cloud services are growing. Over half of global businesses offer some form of remote or hybrid work, and 94% of enterprises use cloud services.

This increase in dispersed workforces and digital access makes file sharing more important than ever. However, without the right security measures in place, sharing files can leave you vulnerable to cyberattacks.

In this article, we will detail the risks of sharing unsecured files, the importance of protecting business data, and a step-by-step guide on how to use WinZip Enterprise® to secure your business files before they are shared within and outside your organization.

What is secure file sharing?

Secure file sharing technology is what protects data as it travels over a network or on a removable storage device like a flash drive. This is achieved by encrypting the files so that the information is scrambled into ciphertext.

In order to change ciphertext back onto readable plaintext, an authorized user must have the correct encryption key. An encryption key is what the algorithm uses to encode and decode the information.

The industry-standard encryption protocol is the Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES. The AES algorithm encrypts and decrypts data using 128-, 192-, or 256-bit key lengths. The key length directly correlates to its complexity, so the greater the number of bits, the more difficult it is to hack the keycode.

Encryption keys are the barrier between hackers and your data, which makes resistance to brute force algorithms that guess every possible combination, critically important. A 256-bit key contains 2 to the power of 256 possible combinations, making it virtually impossible to penetrate via trial and error.

The risks associated with transferring unsecured data

Since 2020, over 70% of IT security professionals have reported an increase in data security breaches at their organizations. This increase is largely attributed to the growth of remote/hybrid work environments and utilization of cloud-based sharing and storage solutions.

A significant issue that companies must face is the threat of employees accessing file systems through unsecured networks, such as public Wi-Fi. Because public Wi-Fi connections are not encrypted, this practice increases the risk of data leaks, ransomware, distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, and more.

For example, malicious actors can use packet sniffing to gain unauthorized network access. Once they’ve entered the network, hackers can set up fake access points that appear to be public Wi-Fi connections. Then they simply wait for users to transfer information, which they can intercept, obtain, and misuse.

Remote work studies have found that 41% of remote workers use unsecured personal devices to access company data. Nearly a third of these employees are unsure about if or how their home network is encrypted.

In 2021, 55% of remote workers used their personal devices for work purposes. To accommodate for technology gaps in their work-from-home environments, more than half of employees relied on their own applications and programs.

This can lead to unsafe behaviors, such as using consumer-grade solutions that do not offer advanced security controls. Known as shadow IT, this phenomenon occurs when employees operate in ways that fall outside of your organization’s established security controls. In large enterprises, shadow IT can account for 30–50% of overall IT spend.

Employees may feel justified in circumventing such processes because they do not understand the risks and potential consequences of unsecured file transfer. However, transferring unsecured data files makes it easier for hackers to gain access to your sensitive information.

Why you need to secure business files before sharing them

Securing files for sharing keeps your information private and ensures that unauthorized individuals cannot open or use the files. This safeguards data that is shared internally, with clients, or with third-party organizations.

Cyberattacks are on the rise, with ransomware attacks occurring every 11 seconds. Experts estimate that external attackers can breach 93% of organizational networks, gaining access to sensitive and confidential information.

Once malicious actors have access to your information, they can sell it on the dark web. In fact, researchers have determined that you can steal someone’s identify by purchasing around $1,000 worth of personal data.

People tend to seek out the fastest, easiest, or most familiar way to accomplish a task. When it comes to sharing business files, this can lead to unsafe practices such as:

  • Sending and receiving files using personal messaging apps.

  • Exchanging files on an unsecured flash drive.

  • Emailing attachments that contain sensitive information.

  • Using unsecured wireless networks.

  • Failing to update anti-virus and anti-malware software.

While email is a fundamental component of day-to-day business operations, it poses severe security risks when sharing files. This is why your information-sharing policy should contain clear requirements for sharing business files.

For example, zipping a file allows you to secure files before sharing. When you send or receive a Zip file, the data within is protected through password protection and file-level encryption. You can also use encrypted Zip files to safely transfer data to the cloud or other storage systems.

How to use WinZip Enterprise to securely transfer business files

There are many ways to encrypt files for secure transfer. For instance, WinZip Enterprise uses FIPS 140-2 compliant AES algorithms. Because it supports 128-bit and 256-bit encryption keys, it’s easy to customize your organization’s data protection processes to suit your business’s needs.

Before you transfer any files, protect them with WinZip Enterprise’s file security features. Secure file sharing with WinZip Enterprise is a straightforward, four-step process:

  • Step 1. Open WinZip Enterprise and choose Encrypt from the Actions menu.

  • Step 2. Select the files to encrypt and their level of encryption—128-bit or 256-bit AES.

  • Step 3. When the Encrypt dialog box appears, create a secure password so authorized users can decrypt the files.

  • Step 4. Click Save. You can now share the encrypted file with the recipient and they can open and decrypt the files using the secure password you created in Step 3.

WinZip Enterprise is so much more than just an encryption tool. In addition to its industry-leading cryptography, companies that use WinZip Enterprise also leverage its data management, sharing, compression, and backup functionalities.

Your sensitive data is protected in transit, at rest, and even during backups. WinZip Enterprise offers a variety of advanced security features, such as password protocols and reporting and analytics tools.

WinZip Enterprise offers native integration with leading cloud storage services and collaboration tools. This ensures that your files are secure no matter where they are sent.

For IT admins, WinZip Enterprise provides centralized control tools to help set and enforce security standards. This enables you to control factors such as encryption methods, password requirements, backup processes, and secure sharing policies.

Learn how to use WinZip Enterprise to quickly and easily secure business files before sharing.

Learn more about WinZip Enterprise today!

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