The Importance Of File Server Security To An Organization

Your servers are the backbone of your company's IT infrastructure. If your servers are compromised, then you can end up not only losing your valuable data but be at the risk of facing liability claims from your customers. That is why file server security should be one of the primary responsibilities of your IT support team. Let us look at some of the reasons why file server security is vital to your organization and how you can achieve it.

1) Protection from cyber-attacks

If you enable remote access to your shared desktop or server, you could be faced with authentication risks. If cybercriminals get access to any of your employees' credentials, they can use them to log in remotely and get full access to your company network. Nowadays, cybercriminals are able to carry out sophisticated cyber-attacks to access your sensitive files. To protect your organization from such cyber attacks, you should implement a strong password policy and regularly audit your users to see if these policies are being adhered to.

2) Safeguard your customer data and company secrets from cyber-theft

Your servers are responsible for ensuring that your customers, employees, partners, and management have uninterrupted access to the services your business offers. Servers are at the center of business activity in this day and age. Since they are critical to how a company functions, hackers tend to target them for their nefarious objectives. To protect your valuable business information from cyber-threat, you need to invest in cybersecurity or network & security courses. Doing so will help keep all your stakeholders aware of the nuances of how to stay secure when accessing your servers online.

3) Provide your employees with a secure alternative to cloud hosting storage services

In recent years, cloud hosting storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Onedrive have exploded in popularity. They can be highly cost-effective and convenient for remote workers, who may already be using such services for their personal purposes. But, there are risks for businesses that depend on such services. Some of the risks are:

i) Lack of data privacy

If you store data with a third-party cloud hosting storage service, you never know who has access to your company data. When it comes to business data, it is vital for you to control who can access such data.

ii) Risk of data leakage

If you are storing company data in the cloud, it is not possible for you to be 100% certain about security measures taken by the cloud hosting service provider to ensure your data is protected. As a result, there is always a risk of data leakage with cloud hosting service providers

iii) Risk of being infected by malware and viruses

The majority of cloud service storage providers use encryption but may not be able to provide granular control when it comes to who can accept third-party files. In such a scenario, your company network is at severe risk of being infected by malware or viruses.

What is the alternative to cloud hosting storage services?

If you use windows file servers in your organization, you are already aware of its robust security features such as NTFS permission, Active Directory, File Locking, and Drive Mapping. Third-party solutions allow you to extend the security of your windows file server to the cloud. Businesses can use such solutions to enable mobile access and secure remote access to your file servers without using a VPN. With remote work becoming a necessity in the middle of a pandemic, you can facilitate remote work without compromising on security or data privacy.

4) Manage permissions centrally

If your employees work remotely and share data with each other and third parties, your sensitive business data is at risk. However, if you set up your file server for secure remote access, you can set different permissions for folders that contain the data. You can also implement different user rights for stakeholders who may be accessing the data. By setting and monitoring access levels at a granular level, your business data stays protected on your file servers.

5) Being able to monitor your employees and protect against unauthorized users

Implementing file server security allows you to monitor which of your employees are accessing your business data. You can keep track of your employees' day-to-day actions and monitor data exchange within your organization. File server security allows you to track user activities and protect your company network from potentially damaging insider attacks. Furthermore, regular audits of your server logs will allow you to fine-tune your data access policy and protect against unauthorized users as well. 

In Summary

In today's online world, the boundaries between personal and business data access are rapidly blurring. As a business, you need to stay on top of cybersecurity measures to ensure that your business data is secure at all times. Having robust file server security policies will help you and your IT support team to sleep well at night.