What can law firms do to reduce their information security risks?
Consumer file sharing tools are creeping into use in law firms, but they come with some inherent security risks, says HighQ
File sharing software is high priority for law firms today, as professionals expect to have access to the best of the consumer tools they use in their personal lives at work.
However, using public file sharing and storage tools like iCloud or Dropbox for business-related communications can be risky. But what can law firms do to ensure that their data stays secure?
The best thing firms can do is choose a file sharing platform with enterprise-grade security features.
When it comes to enterprise file sharing software, the privacy and security of data should be paramount concerns anyway.
For this reason, one of the major differentiators of enterprise cloud solutions and consumer-grade cloud tools is security.
The best enterprise cloud vendors build their platforms with the best security features from the ground up, and host in private data centres with single tenant architecture.
Enterprise tools are designed to meet strict regulations required by businesses. This means that the tools, providers and data storage must be highly secure and reliable, to minimise any risk to sensitive or confidential company or client information.
Like anything, you must look at all the options and choose the best that you can. Do your research. Ask your data hosting company the important questions, such as are they audited? Look for providers that are ISO27001-accredited which will ensure the highest level of security.
Carry out further due diligence by understanding the host country's data legislation. You can find this out by investigating data protection laws in the country that your data may be hosted in, checking first that the country has data protection laws at all, and delving deeper to check who these laws apply to, and what access the government has or allows to other countries' governments.
Once you know what you're up against, deploy and enforce a robust cloud data location and jurisdiction policy to protect your interests.
Make sure you choose a cloud provider that offers hosting in your country of choice, but also make sure you investigate the country in which the provider is based as this can affect the security of your data.
HighQ is an innovator in secure enterprise collaboration and file sharing and provides solutions to some of the world's leading law firms, banks and corporations.
highq.com