Tech Tip: The Dangers of Dropbox and Other File Sync Apps

If you’re using Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive or other consumer-grade file sync and sharing cloud applications, listen up. These applications pose a huge threat to your company, enabling company data to be spread far and wide without central oversight of what information is being shared with whom.

Over seven million Dropbox accounts have been hacked, giving cybercriminals a path into the networks of the companies these users work for and with.

This is even more important if your company has access to and/or stores financial, medical or other sensitive data. Using file-sharing applications like these are a clear and direct violation of data breach and compliance laws. Bottom line, don’t use them for company data. Use ONLY company-approved, business-grade file-sharing applications.

Alan Edwards, CISM, is chief information officer at Computerware, Inc., in Vienna, Virginia.

tagsAlan EdwardscybersecurityDropboxfile-syncGoogle DrivehackersOneDrive