Users Warned Not to Share Business Information on Chat

Report finds 71 per cent of users have shared business-critical data on platforms like Zoom and Teams

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Unified Communications

Published: March 11, 2021

Tom Wright

Managing Editor

Employees have been warned not to share sensitive messages over collaboration tools, over cybersecurity and compliance fears.

A report from security firm Veritas found that 71 per cent of users have shared business-critical data on applications like Teams and Zoom.

Veritas claims that employees are potentially not following compliant data flows by doing this and “taking data out of the control”.

It added that some employees are saving information that legally shouldn’t be stored, while some users are deleting conversation histories that need to be kept as a paper trail.

Both having or not having a paper trail could lead to significant fines from regulators depending on the type of data in question, Veritas said.

Ajay Bhatia, GM of Digital Compliance at Veritas Technologies, said: “Business data is now everywhere. Deals are being done, orders are being processed, and sensitive personnel information is being shared, all through video conferencing and messaging platforms.

“It is now critical for companies to include this rapidly growing volume of data in their protection and compliance envelope. If they don’t, the implications could be huge”

Veritas broke out the data for US respondents further, revealing the types of information shared over collaboration platforms. They included: client information (13 per cent of respondents); details on HR issues (10 per cent); contracts (10 per cent); business plans (10 per cent); and even COVID-19 test results (12 per cent).

Some 58 per cent of US employees are saving their own copies of conversations that contain business information, with 51 per cent deleting the information entirely.

“Either approach could leave companies open to significant fines if regulators ask to see a paper trail,” Veritas.

Veritas also said that there is uncertainty about what methods of communication employees believe to be legally binding when it comes to contracts or invoices.

In the US, e-mail is viewed as a reliable affirmation of an agreement by 96 per cent, followed by electronic signatures at 95 per cent. IM was trusted by 93 per cent, text by 89 per cent and social media by 68 per cent.

Veritas said that businesses need to adjust their policies to incorporate platforms that are acceptable for sharing sensitive data, particularly as the use of collaboration platforms has skyrocketed during the pandemic.

It gave four tips for how to do this:

  • Standardise on a set of collaboration and messaging tools meeting the needs of the business – this will limit the sprawl.
  • Create a policy for information sharing that will help control the sharing of sensitive information.
  • Train all employees on the policies and tools being deployed, which will help to reduce accidental policy breaches.
  • Incorporate data sets from collaboration and messaging tools into the businesses’ data management strategy using eDiscovery and SaaS data backup solutions – this will empower users to maximize the tools without putting the business at risk.

Veritas surveyed 12,500 office workers across 10 companies globally.

 

 

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