7 Ways A Collaboration System Could Wreck Your IT Security
October 21 2018
It can seem as if no corporate meeting is complete until someone says the word “collaboration.” And for good reason: Use of collaboration tools is spreading to keep up with the phrase’s ubiquity, with the global collaboration tool market projected to reach nearly $10 billion by 2021.
But before an IT group blithely answers the call for a collaboration system – by which we mean groupware applications such as Slack, Microsoft Team, and Webex Team – it’s important to consider the security risks these systems may bring.
That’s because the same traits that make these, and similar, applications so useful for team communications also make them vulnerable to a number of different security issues. From their flexibility for working with third-party applications, to the ease with which team members can sign in and share data, low transactional friction can easily translate to low barriers for hackers to clear.
When selecting and deploying collaboration tools, an IT staff should be on the lookout for a number of first-line issues and be prepared to deal with them in system architecture, add-ons, or deployment. The key is to make sure that the benefits of collaboration outweigh the risks that can enter the enterprise alongside the software.
(Image: rawpixel)
Curtis Franklin Jr. is Senior Editor at Dark Reading. In this role he focuses on product and technology coverage for the publication. In addition he works on audio and video programming for Dark Reading and contributes to activities at Interop ITX, Black Hat, INsecurity, and … View Full Bio
7 Ways A Collaboration System Could Wreck Your IT Security
October 21 2018
It can seem as if no corporate meeting is complete until someone says the word “collaboration.” And for good reason: Use of collaboration tools is spreading to keep up with the phrase’s ubiquity, with the global collaboration tool market projected to reach nearly $10 billion by 2021.
But before an IT group blithely answers the call for a collaboration system – by which we mean groupware applications such as Slack, Microsoft Team, and Webex Team – it’s important to consider the security risks these systems may bring.
That’s because the same traits that make these, and similar, applications so useful for team communications also make them vulnerable to a number of different security issues. From their flexibility for working with third-party applications, to the ease with which team members can sign in and share data, low transactional friction can easily translate to low barriers for hackers to clear.
When selecting and deploying collaboration tools, an IT staff should be on the lookout for a number of first-line issues and be prepared to deal with them in system architecture, add-ons, or deployment. The key is to make sure that the benefits of collaboration outweigh the risks that can enter the enterprise alongside the software.
(Image: rawpixel)
Curtis Franklin Jr. is Senior Editor at Dark Reading. In this role he focuses on product and technology coverage for the publication. In addition he works on audio and video programming for Dark Reading and contributes to activities at Interop ITX, Black Hat, INsecurity, and … View Full Bio
