Sharing Files Securely

How Dropbox can be a danger to your corporate network:

 http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/dropsmack-using-dropbox-to-steal-files-and-deliver-malware/9332?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101

And now Yahoo mail comes with Dropbox built in! Combine the above with this:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dropbox-yahoo-team-up/?utm_source=nrel&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=nrel

Could it be possible the bad guys have just been handed another tool?

 

After all… Dropbox has had its issues:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/dropbox-convenient-absolutely-but-is-it-secure/5618?tag=content;siu-container

 

It is convenient, there is no doubt. I’ve been asked if I use Dropbox. I often deal in large video files or quantities of photos. Something that convenient would be nice. But only if I could do so securely. The above are good reasons to consider security over convenience. Sure, I’m just sharing photos and videos, but my concern is not that my photos are on the web. I share photos on Flickr, and upload videos to YouTube pretty regularly. My concern in the case of Dropbox is the app that needs to be installed on the local machine. It has the potential to leave a back door open on the local machine, which degrades the integrity of the network. On a business computer this is not acceptable.

I started this blog last week. Today I decided to do some more research of Dropbox and similar systems. I found an article about Novell’s Filr. I’m a firm believer in Novell products – and this one looks like another winner for the enterprise. Filr can be run on multiple platforms, and the files reside on your own servers, where your admin can control the security and see who has access and who doesn’t. Files can still be shared outside the network for 3^rd parties if necessary.

http://news.techworld.com/security/3442669/novells-new-filr-software-offers-secure-alternative-to-dropbox/

Need to share files within your business network or to your customers? Do a little research into the products available before installing anything on the network.  Look for the security features that fit your situation.

So You Are Considering Cloud Services

You’re a small business owner (chances are, if you’re reading this blog that’s exactly why you are here in the first place), and you are considering using a hosted service to manage some or all of your information technology needs. I can understand why you might want to do that. You have a business to run – and all of the productivity issues that come along with that. The last thing you want to spend your time dealing with is Information Technology. Yet, IT is necessary in some form for almost any business anymore. It is a necessary evil for the not-so-technically minded, and even for those who are a little tech-savvy. And a small business might not have the budget to support full-time IT staff. So when a company comes along that offers to host your information, or maybe just provide a particular software package that will make your life easier, it sounds like a great idea.