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.
