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What is data loss insurance and why does your company need it? 

One of a company’s most valuable assets is its data. Some of this data may be highly sensitive, which requires additional levels of protection to prevent unauthorized access and loss. From intellectual property to customer payment data, handling sensitive content puts your organization at risk of data loss.

On a global scale, 64% of companies have experienced at least one instance of cyberattack. These incidents are highly disruptive to business operations, impacting a company’s reputation and bottom line.

To protect themselves and their customers, many businesses look to various forms of cyber insurance. Policies and coverage vary between insurers, but they are designed to help a business recover from the financial burden and other damages caused by cybersecurity incidents.

In this article, we will explain various types of data loss insurance and how they work, why you need this type of cybersecurity coverage, and how data loss insurance fits into a successful cybersecurity plan.

What does data loss insurance entail?

While a company may already have commercial property and general liability insurance, these policies typically do not apply to electronic data or cyber liability. Cyber insurance addresses the security risks inherent in digital technologies, including breaches, hacking, ransomware, viruses, and system failures.

Data loss insurance covers business losses due to cyberattacks in which data is lost or stolen. It is intended to reduce the impact of data loss caused by data breaches and other cyberattacks, as well as cover the costs of subsequent legal action taken against the insured company.

These policies can provide coverage in multiple scenarios, such as:

  • Your company is hacked, and customers’ personal data is stolen. In response to this violation of privacy, your customers file suit against your business. Data loss insurance can help pay for any legal expenses necessary to defend the organization in court. This includes attorney’s fees, court costs, judgments, damages, and settlements.
  • Malware affects the company network, giving malicious actors access to financial records including credit card information. The fines and penalties imposed on your company by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) can be substantial, varying from $5,000–100,000 per month. Data loss insurance helps companies cover these assessments, fines, and penalties.
  • Cybercriminals infiltrate your datacenter and encrypt the data held on its systems. Data loss insurance can help not only pay the ransom to retrieve the data, but also provide compensation for income loss caused by the cyberattack.

Following a data breach, companies may be required to notify affected individuals, hire consultants to conduct breach analysis, and invest in advertising and PR to mitigate reputational damage. A data loss insurance policy helps pay for the costs associated with responding to and recovering from a data breach. For example, some states require businesses to provide up to 12 months of identity theft protection and credit monitoring to people affected by the data breach.

Why businesses need data loss insurance

Data loss insurance covers two important considerations: first-party damages and third-party liability. The first party is the insured company, and the third party is any individual or entity whose information the company has in its systems in the form of data.

First-party damage coverage

First-party damages directly impact the business. For example, if a malware infection causes three days of downtime, the financial losses incurred are first-party damage to your company. If the cyberattack also led to a breach of sensitive data, the cost to notify the affected individuals would also be a first-party damage. In both instances, data loss insurance would reimburse the organization for the damages.

Third-party damage coverage

If a cybersecurity incident causes damage to individuals outside the organization, this creates third-party liability. Should these third parties claim that your company failed to properly protect their data, they might file suit against you. Data loss insurance covers the cost of defending against such lawsuits.

Without data loss coverage, businesses that experience an adverse cybersecurity incident could be left financially responsible for the costs related to cyber damages. This is precisely what happened to Sony’s PlayStation network when it was breached by hackers. The breach exposed the PII of 77 million users and led to a 23-day service outage.

The gaming organization incurred more than $171 million in breach-related costs. However, they did not have any form of cyber insurance, so a court ruled that its insurance policy only covered damage to physical property. This means that costs attributed to responding to and recovering from the hacking event fell solely on the affected company.

Benefits of data loss insurance

Your data security policy is only as strong as its weakest component. It may not be possible to completely eliminate risk, but companies are increasingly emphasizing the importance of scaled detection and measured response.

Data loss insurance is a component of becoming resilient in terms of cybersecurity. Not being prepared for the possibility of data loss creates vulnerability. For example, in 93% of cases, malicious actors can infiltrate a company’s network and access valuable data and resources. Once inside, they can launch a host of intrusive attacks:

  • Ransomware. Ransomware exploits vulnerabilities in servers or other devices connected to the corporate network. The most prominent type of malware is ransomware and is designed to encrypt important files, rendering them unusable. To restore the locked files, the affected business would need to pay the attacker’s ransom fee.
  • Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. A DDoS attack uses numerous compromised computer systems to overwhelm its target, such as a website, server, or other network resource. By flooding the target with connection requests, messages, or malformed packets, a DDoS attack can crash the system and deny service to legitimate users.
  • Structured Query Language (SQL) injection attack. SQL is a programming language used to manage relational databases. A SQL injection (SQLi) manipulates the code so that the attacker can access the database and its resources, including sensitive data.

Sometimes, the threat of data loss arises within the organization itself. For example, over a third of cybersecurity incidents involve phishing, which tricks victims into installing malware or sharing private information.

Around 78% of IT leaders believe that employees have caused accidental data breaches. Whether they are sharing unencrypted data files or working on unsecured networks, employee errors have caused major service outages in almost 40% of businesses.

Data loss coverage ensures that companies can recover effectively from cyberattacks, unintentional data leaks, and everything in between.

Components of a successful cybersecurity plan

Cybersecurity is more than protecting data and systems against malicious actors—a complete cybersecurity plan includes defending against downtime, operational disruption, and revenue loss. Legal fees resulting from cyberattacks can add up quickly, and data loss insurance policies help organizations cover those fees.

While data loss insurance will cover business losses from cyber threats, the best scenario is to avoid data loss altogether. To protect critical data, many organizations leverage WinZip® Enterprise for streamlined data management. This comprehensive solution can be used to manage, share, compress, and encrypt data files to keep sensitive information safe.

WinZip Enterprise enhances your organization’s comprehensive cybersecurity position with centralized control tools that enable IT admins to set up and enforce security standards. It is also compatible with a wide range of enterprise-grade cloud file sharing and file storage platforms, ensuring data is protected no matter where it is located.

Find out how WinZip Enterprise fits into a successful cybersecurity plan, including data loss insurance.

Cybersecurity in the insurance industry: what you need to know 

The size, scope, and vast amounts of data within the insurance industry makes it a key target for cybercrime. From our health to our cars, property, and several points in between, the average individual has several types of insurance coverage.

Data is both the foundation of and the driving force behind insurance products, policies, and pricing. Much of this data is considered personally identifiable information (PII), which means it could be used to identify an individual. Dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account information, and biometrics such as fingerprints are just a few examples of PII that could be found within an insurance company’s database.

Once a cybercriminal has acquired compromised PII data points, they can use this information for fraudulent activities. For example, stolen PII can be fed into an insurance company’s automated quote tool (such as with car insurance) to obtain even more PII. The more information a hacker has, the more equipped they are to commit identify theft and insurance fraud.

In this article, we will look at what makes cybersecurity challenging within the insurance industry, as well as solutions to enhance the security of personally and financially sensitive data.

Why is cybersecurity particularly challenging for insurance companies?

The insurance industry collects, processes, and analyzes massive amounts of structured and unstructured data. Structured data is organized and formatted in a way that makes it easily searchable in databases.

Examples of structured data in the insurance industry include:

  • Names
  • Addresses
  • Medical history
  • Claim history
  • Vehicle information

Unstructured data, however, does not have a predefined organizational structure or format. Unlike structured data, this type of information does not easily fit within a traditional, column/row spreadsheet or database. However, unstructured data contains critical information that insurers use to customize coverage options and detect fraud.

Examples of unstructured data sources include:

  • Emails
  • PDFs
  • Video files
  • Written reports
  • Data analytics
  • Photographs
  • Social media

The insurance industry faces unique challenges when it comes to cybersecurity. The large volume of PII data held by insurance companies is subject to compliance standards and regulations and is also a lucrative target for malicious actors.

Read on to learn more about why cybersecurity is challenging for insurance companies in particular.

Cybersecurity risks unique to the insurance industry

Data breaches and ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency and complexity. Since 2020, financial institutions have increased their use of digital and remote solutions for daily operations. After the health sector, the financial sector (including insurers and brokers) was the hardest hit by COVID-19-related cyber events.

In addition to the insurance policies themselves, some of the most sensitive data held by insurance companies is personal identifying information such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers, passports, and drivers’ licenses. These PII data points are highly valuable to cyber criminals in identity theft operations.

While the insurance industry as a whole is targeted by cybercriminals, companies that provide cyber insurance coverage are even more high-value targets. This is an insurance policy that protects businesses and their customers in the event of data loss, such as a breach or ransomware attack.

Should a hacker successfully compromise their networks, malicious actors will have access to policy details and security standards for cyber insurance coverage, as well as the maximum amount the policy will pay in a ransomware event. This information gives ransomware operations an easy way to determine a ransom amount that the victim will agree to.

The size and scope of the insurance industry, as well as the highly valuable data these companies hold, make these companies a lucrative target for malicious actors. With personal, health, identity, and financial information on file, a single gig of insurance data could be worth as much as $10,000.

In fact, the 2022 Cyber Insurance Risk report indicates that 82% of insurance companies are the focus of cybercrime such as ransomware attacks. Recent cybersecurity events include:

  • CNA Financial Corporation, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, paid $40 million in ransom after a 2021 ransomware attack locked officials out of the CNA network. While the FBI and the Treasury Department discourage companies from paying ransom amounts, companies like CNA do so to recover their stolen data. However, only 42% of organizations successfully recover their data after paying the ransom.

  • In 2020, insurance and benefits broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. suffered a ransomware attack in which hackers obtained PII of thousands of Gallagher customers and employees. The affected individuals filed a class-action lawsuit against Gallagher for failing to protect their information and for failing to notify or assist the people whose data was compromised.

  • Cybersecurity insurance provider, Chubb,became a victim of a data breach in 2020. The security incident is attributed to the Maze ransomware group, which is known for encrypting networks and devices, exfiltrating data, and holding it for ransom. While the attack didn’t impact the operation of Chubb’s networks, the ransomware group posted a list of the data stolen from Chubb, including the names and contact information of senior company executives.

The importance of cybersecurity in the insurance industry

The insurance industry is subject to some of the most comprehensive data protection and privacy regulations:

  • Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). GLBA regulations protect consumers’ financial information and PII. Insurance companies must develop a comprehensive information security program that contains controls such as encryption, risk assessments, access controls, and multifactor authentication (MFA), among others.
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Health insurance companies are considered health plans that must comply with HIPAA provisions for data security and privacy. This includes (but is not limited to) best practices such as data encryption, audit logs, access controls, and risk assessments.
  • Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML). The BSA is a collection of laws and regulations aimed at reducing the risk of money laundering in the United States. The insurance company is responsible for the effectiveness of its compliance program, which includes the activities of its agents and brokers. BSA/AML regulations apply only to high-risk insurance products such as annuities and permanent life insurance policies, both of which can be used to facilitate money laundering activities.

Regulations for insurance companies are increasing, with more states requiring companies to better protect consumer data. As of May 2022, Kentucky became the latest state to develop a cybersecurity statute based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NIAC) Insurance Data Security Model Law. Currently, 21 states have adopted models to enhance cybersecurity in the insurance industry.

How WinZip Enterprise enhances cybersecurity in the insurance industry

The best way to mitigate risk is to protect data before adverse events occur. An insurance company’s files and databases contain a wealth of information that would negatively affect financial performance and public perception if it were compromised.

Following a data breach, 83% of customers will no longer use the products and services of the affected organization. A comprehensive data protection strategy should include best practices such as the following:

  • Customized access controls. Access controls restrict access to resources and data based on what’s necessary for a user’s job functions. This is known as the principle of least privilege (POLP), which helps prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.
  • File-level encryption. File encryption gives insurance companies increased control and visibility over their sensitive PII. Encryption renders the information contained within a file unreadable to anyone without the appropriate decryption key, rendering the file useless to cybercriminals.
  • File tracking. To prevent and eliminate data loss, insurance companies should regularly review system activity. File tracking makes a record of every time a file is edited, moved, or deleted. This makes it easier to detect and control system vulnerabilities such as human error (e.g., accidental deletion of a critical file).

WinZip® Enterprise protects sensitive data with a customizable set of enterprise-grade tools for secure backup, file transfer, encryption, and more. Insurance industry IT administrators have granular control over the operating environment, making it easy to implement and enforce policies that uphold cybersecurity.

Using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) format, WinZip Enterprise encrypts data at the file level so that it is safeguarded while at rest and in transit. This type of encryption is ideal for insurance companies that must comply with various data security regulations.

Learn how WinZip Enterprise helps insurance companies stay safe amidst today’s leading cybersecurity threats.

What is the biggest threat to the security of healthcare data? 

Cybersecurity is a critical concern for healthcare organizations. Protected health information (PHI) is more valuable than other types of personal data, making it a key target for cyber criminals. This is because healthcare records contain a variety of personal information, such as an individual’s name, social security number, financial details, and more.

Health data is around 20 times more valuable than financial data on the Dark Web. The remediation costs following a healthcare data breach are also higher. This includes expensive processes such as investigation, incident response, breach containment, and more. The cost to remediate a health data breach is around $408 per record compared to $148 per non-health record. Despite the risks, the healthcare industry falls short in terms of cybersecurity.

Fortunately, there are tools and best practices that can help prevent cyberattacks in the healthcare industry. In this article, we will detail current cybersecurity challenges in healthcare environments as well as solutions that increase the security of your organization’s healthcare data.

Healthcare cybersecurity challenges

Data breaches and other security threats have increased sharply over the past few years, fueled in large part by the rapid and necessary shift to remote working conditions in 2020 as the pandemic reshaped how people work.

In addition to the challenges posed by an expanded remote workforce, healthcare organizations were also faced with an increased patient load. Resource limitations impacted every level of patient care, including healthcare data security.

For example, elective procedures were canceled to control the spread of the virus, but this also created revenue shortages. On average, elective procedures make up 60% of total revenue for healthcare organizations. These cancellations led to a revenue loss of around $22.3 billion nationally.

With limited space, staff, supplies, and revenue, many healthcare organizations were unable to prioritize cybersecurity measures. Cyberattacks spiked as a result, with more than 1 in 3 healthcare entities experiencing a ransomware event in 2020 alone.

While the pandemic has waned, cybersecurity threats have only increased. In the first five months of 2022, the number of data security breaches in the healthcare industry almost doubled compared to the same period in 2021.

The healthcare sector’s cybersecurity challenges include the following:

  • Staff shortages. Healthcare cybersecurity staff are increasingly overworked, understaffed, and undertrained. Around a third of health IT teams are not sufficiently staffed for cybersecurity, further straining existing team members.

    Skills gaps further hinder healthcare IT teams. Around 40% of IT staff lack cybersecurity expertise and an additional 39% of individuals are deficient in data protection skills.

Common healthcare data threats

From hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and care facilities, every aspect of the healthcare industry is susceptible to cyberattacks. Teaching and research hospitals are especially vulnerable because they manage, store, and transfer a large volume of sensitive data.

From 2018 to 2021, healthcare data breaches increased by 84%. The number of victims affected by these breaches also increased from 14 million in 2018 to 44.9 million in 2021. As of July 2022, more than 22 million health records have been breached in the US, a 4.6% increase from the same period the previous year.

Let’s look at some of the greatest threats to healthcare data security:

Phishing

Phishing is a technique where malicious actors trick their victim into giving them system access. Common phishing attack vectors include emails, websites, social media, and text messages. For example, hackers accessed a Colorado-based eye care practice employee’s work email and used it to copy patient data. This phishing incident compromised more than 26,000 people’s sensitive information.

Cybercriminals often use a phishing attack to gain access to a critical network or system. Once they’re in, they can easily exfiltrate sensitive files, compromise accounts, and infect businesses with ransomware.

Because phishing seeks to obtain sensitive data, healthcare organizations account for around half of all phishing attack victims. The cost of recovering from such an attack averages around $14.8 million, which is three times greater than it was in 2015.

Third-party data breaches

A third-party data breach occurs when a malicious actor gains access to sensitive health data via third parties such as vendors, suppliers, or business partners. The healthcare industry is the most common victim of this attack vector. Attacks by third parties were responsible for 33% of healthcare cybersecurity incidents in 2021.

For example, in 2020, vulnerabilities in Accellion’s file transfer system gave cybercriminals access to the private data of millions of individuals. Numerous healthcare organizations that used the software to transfer large, sensitive files within the network were impacted by the third-party breach.

According to the settlement proposal, Accellion did not guarantee the security of the software and the clients were solely responsible for their data security practices. The last security update for the software in question was issued in February 2019, creating the vulnerabilities that gave the threat actors access to connected client networks.

Ransomware

Ransomware is the biggest threat to the security of healthcare data. Two-thirds of healthcare organizations were affected by ransomware in 2021, compared to 34% in 2020.

Because the healthcare industry is heavily dependent on access to data to maintain operations, they are under immense pressure to recover information quickly. As a result, they are frequently targeted by ransomware groups because healthcare organizations pay the ransom demand 61% of the time.

When ransomware is used to attack a healthcare entity, the attackers successfully encrypt and subsequently ransom sensitive health data 65% of the time. This is higher than the national average of 54%, due to factors such as a reliance on legacy systems, understaffing, and resource challenges.

Ransomware attacks are costly not just in terms of the ransom demand, but also because they cause major healthcare disruptions. Hospitals across the globe have blamed a ransomware attack for patient deaths, such as when hackers compromised systems that caused a newborn’s heart monitor to fail.

The role of file security in preventing cyberattacks

Today, cybercriminals can successfully breach 93% of company networks. With the growing risk of data breaches and ransomware, it’s more important than ever for organizations to protect their critical health data.

File encryption protects against cyberattacks and data loss by rendering the data useless to anyone without the correct password key. Encrypting at the file level adds an additional layer of security as data moves between devices, networks, and databases.

WinZip® Enterprise protects healthcare data through secure file sharing, compression, encryption, and management. With centralized IT control, WinZip Enterprise can be easily customized to meet the complex needs of health data security.

Discover how WinZip Enterprise can help healthcare organizations keep their data secure from ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.

What is on-premises secure file sharing at the enterprise level? 

On-premises file sharing is a method of file transfer that relies on local servers. An on-site data center is fully managed by the organization’s IT staff, and files are shared through the local network.

Before the development of cloud file sharing in the mid-90s, on-site solutions were the only option for storing and sharing files. Today, enterprise-level companies have a variety of options for secure file sharing, including on-premises, in the cloud, or a combination of both.

More than half of enterprises leverage on-premises infrastructure for secure file sharing and storage. By 2024, an estimated 63% of IT workloads will remain on-site. There are several reasons organizations choose to stay on-premises, from regulatory requirements to performance controls and more.

This article will explore on-premises secure file sharing solutions, including both its benefits and potential security risks. We will also look at how to enhance on-site data security with WinZip® Enterprise.

Benefits of on-premises file sharing

Back in 2018, a Gartner analysist predicted that 80% of enterprises would shut down their on-premises data centers by 2025. While the article’s title, “The Data Center is Dead,” seemingly suggested that on-site solutions would cease to exist, recent industry research argues that on-premises solutions aren’t dying but evolving.

By 2025, Gartner predicts that 85% of infrastructure strategies will include a combination of on-premises and cloud file sharing solutions. Rather than expanding their existing on-site infrastructure, 62% of enterprises are increasing rack densities to manage their resources.

For any organization with an established on-site IT infrastructure, the shift to the cloud is happening slowly. On-premises data centers are fully customizable, giving business leaders complete control over the type of hardware and systems that make up the IT infrastructure, how they run, and who has access to them.

In addition, there are instances where on-premises file sharing is the best option, such as mission-critical applications. These are programs that must operate continuously because any downtime could lead to service disruption and financial losses.

By keeping mission-critical apps on-premises, organizations have greater control over data security. On-site IT teams can monitor and control security tools such as access controls, firewalls, and encryption to safeguard sensitive information.

Across business industries, enterprises leverage on-premises solutions for legacy systems. These highly customized systems have been running on hardware located on-site for years (if not decades). They would have to be retooled to operate in a cloud platform, which is a complex, time-consuming process.

On-premises secure file sharing doesn’t require internet access, increasing operational efficiency because workflows are not impacted by outages or slow connections. This stable network connection also delivers low-latency access to applications, which means there is minimal to no delay in storing or retrieving data files.

Disadvantages of on-premises file sharing

Of course, there are drawbacks and security issues that must be considered with on-premises file sharing and storage. For example, the ability to quickly access data on a physical network does not extend to offsite personnel.

To meet the rising needs of a distributed workforce, enterprises would need to look at third-party solutions for offsite file sharing. For example, a VPN extends the onsite private network across a public network (i.e., the internet).

Since the IT infrastructure is on site, enterprises require high levels of IT support and maintenance to keep things running efficiently. For a large data center, the average yearly operational cost is between $10 and $25 million. This includes spending on application maintenance, networking, cooling systems, labor costs, and more.

While on-premises solutions are highly customizable, they are limited in terms of scalability. An established, in-house data center has a certain amount of physical space in the company that can house the servers and associated IT equipment. These hardware and software components require continuous power supplies as well as cooling and ventilation systems to prevent overheating.

To expand storage and workload capacities, enterprises must purchase and install more equipment. Since onsite space, power, and cooling systems are typically designed to support a specific rack density per square foot, adding or removing components could impact these operational capacities.

This is not always cost effective, especially since enterprise-level servers can cost thousands of dollars each. In addition, increasing the size of on-premises technology is a complex process that requires considerable time and effort from an IT team, which leaves less time for other critical business tasks.

System reliability depends on server redundancy, in which a backup server can take over if a primary server is compromised. Every backup server takes up space, consumes energy, and needs to be kept cool, increasing on-site data center costs. While redundancy for on-premises file sharing and storage is cost-prohibitive, not having backup servers means that productivity suffers if a server is compromised.

How WinZip Enterprise improves on-premises file sharing security

When it comes to on-premises file sharing and storage, your files are only as secure as the people who manage them. This requires a host of IT skills, such as networking, database management, security, and hardware and software systems administration.

This combined skillset is increasingly hard to find due to a widening shortage of tech workers. Understaffed IT teams are more prone to human error, which is a primary contributor to data center downtime. Operational downtime costs enterprise-level companies an average of $700,000 per hour, meaning that even small mistakes can have expensive consequences.

Enterprises may need additional software or solutions to enhance and maintain their in-house security practices. WinZip Enterprise empowers IT teams with enterprise-grade tools to secure, manage, and protect on-premises file sharing and storage.

It’s also a highly customizable solution, enabling IT administrators to leverage features and settings that support the needs of onsite infrastructure. This simplifies security management processes, which are critically important for securing the data environment.

WinZip Enterprise can also find and flag duplicate files, which saves critical storage space in an on-premises solution. Another way WinZip Enterprise optimizes storage space is through file compression. These processes reduce files by 15–90% of their original size without impacting their quality. The compressed file also has a faster transfer speed, keeping productivity high and latency low.

Discover how to enhance your on-premises secure file sharing with WinZip Enterprise.

What is cloud file sharing and how does it affect data security? 

In an increasingly digitized, mobile workspace, people are looking to the cloud to facilitate anywhere, anytime access to work documents and files. Cloud file sharing is the process of sharing files over the internet rather than with internal, on-premises hardware and software.

Because the cloud is such a ubiquitous term, it can be difficult to determine how processes like cloud file sharing can and do impact data security. In this article, we will explain how cloud file sharing differs from traditional methods and detail the challenges and benefits of sharing files in the cloud. We will also describe how solutions such as WinZip® Enterprise help streamline and secure cloud-based file sharing.

Cloud file sharing is different from traditional file sharing

A traditional, on-premises data center’s footprint is only as large as the physical hardware itself. On the contrary, the cloud is a vast network of remote servers operating as a single ecosystem.

On-premises servers rely on physical drives to share files. Enterprise-level hard drives can cost thousands of dollars, so both upfront expenditures and equipment upgrades can be costly.

For example, if your files are stored on a 1 TB hard drive, you would have to purchase an additional drive if you exceed the storage parameters. There’s no wiggle room to scale storage capacity up and down in response to changing data volumes.

Cloud file sharing lets users access information over the internet, so there’s no physical components to manage. Infrastructural costs are relatively minimal because your cloud services can scale resources up as the workload increases.

In addition to size and capacity considerations, on-premises file sharing also has different security concerns than that of the cloud.

Traditional data servers rely on your internal IT department to maintain and protect the systems. While this might seem ideal, there is a global shortage of cybersecurity professionals.

The workforce would need to grow 65% to adequately staff every company’s IT team. Until then, the growing workload of updates, patches, security monitoring, and other critical tasks make traditional systems easy targets for cyberattacks.

Cloud service providers (CSPs) operate on a shared responsibility model with the user. This means that the CSP handles some aspects of cloud security, but others are up to you. For example, your baseline security requirements typically relate to what you store, how you store it, and who can access what within the cloud environment.

Challenges with cloud file sharing

Cloud-based file sharing is dynamic. As long as you have a reliable internet connection, you are not restricted to specific places or devices to share files. While this provides easy access and real-time sharing, it can also introduce cybersecurity risks. For example, accessing cloud file sharing through an unsecured network such as public Wi-Fi leaves your sensitive data vulnerable to theft and tampering.

Unencrypted networks allow malicious actors to monitor all activity between the user and server. Hackers can also infect unsecure networks, infiltrating connected devices to spread malware, viruses, and worms.

This is why it’s important to remember that cloud security is a shared responsibility between you and the CSP(s). Otherwise, you leave the door open to costly security risks. Data loss is more than just recovering the value of the files themselves—you could also experience revenue loss, regulatory fines, reputational damage, and more.

While there are many cloud storage and file sharing platforms, they don’t each offer the same level of security for critical business data. Using consumer-level technology leaves you vulnerable to unauthorized access and data loss. When it comes to data security, cloud file sharing needs enhanced security controls, such as the following:

  • Permission-based user roles. Access controls allow you to control user access based on their job role, project assignment, or other relevant factors. In addition to reducing the risk of unauthorized access, permission-based user roles also increase user accountability because file sharing activity is trackable via audit logs.

  • Encryption. Encryption scrambles data into an unreadable format that can only be deciphered with the correct password or decryption key. Encrypted cloud services range in scope and services, so it is important to ensure you find one that meets your company’s requirements.

  • Automated backups and transfers. Enterprise-level cloud solutions often come with features such as backup scheduling. This automated process ensures data backups, audits, and transfers happen when they need to keep information secure.

Cloud file sharing benefits

Companies of all sizes and across all industries use cloud services, including 94% of enterprise-level organizations. In fact, spending on cloud infrastructure surpassed on-premises spending for the first time in 2020.

Enterprise spending on cloud services grew by 35% that year, reaching almost $130 billion. Meanwhile, spending on traditional, on-premises datacenter hardware and software dropped by 6%. This shift to the cloud is in response to its numerous benefits, including:

  • Accessibility. Whether someone is working from home, at the office, or anywhere in between, they can share files and other digital assets securely with other stakeholders. The cloud also syncs data files across all devices, ensuring that multiple people can work on the same file without creating duplications or other errors.

  • Cost. On-premises datacenters have upfront and ongoing costs that require ongoing investment and expertise. Because clouds are managed in coordination with the CSP, associated costs are typically more manageable and predictable than unexpected on-premises expenses.

  • Secure collaboration. Collaboration is key to a team’s success, but unsecured devices and networks increase the risk that the files will be compromised. Enterprise-level cloud file sharing employs encryption and password protection to increase the security of shared files. If an endpoint device (e.g., phone, laptop, tablet) is compromised, cloud services can remotely wipe the data from the device.

  • Eco-friendly. On-premises data centers consume a lot of energy and could contain substances that are harmful to the environment. Companies that use cloud computing can reduce their carbon footprint while decreasing infrastructure costs at the same time.

Enhance cloud file sharing security with WinZip Enterprise

Despite its obvious advantages, the cloud is not without data security concerns. Different providers offer varying levels of security, and most service agreements lack specific details when it comes to how protections are implemented.

To make your cloud file sharing processes more secure, consider using a solution like WinZip Enterprise. This solution secures and manages files with 128 and 256-bit AES encryption.

WinZip Enterprise gives your IT admins centralized control over the file sharing environment, including granular access controls. It integrates with several leading cloud storage systems and messaging platforms, ensuring that your data is safe across cloud systems.

Learn how WinZip Enterprise can help your organization make the switch to cloud file sharing and make your cloud-based file storage more secure.

Learn more about WinZip Enterprise today!

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