Safely Sharing Your Sensitive Documents

Safely Sharing Your Sensitive Documents

A Virtual Data Room (VDR) is a secure online repository for storing and sharing sensitive information, often used during mergers and acquisitions, due diligence processes, legal proceedings, and other confidential transactions. Strict control over user access within a VDR offers several advantages:

Confidentiality and Security

Data Protection: Strict control ensures that only authorized users can access confidential documents, protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access and potential breaches.

Encryption: Quality VDRs use encryption protocols to secure data during transmission and storage, adding extra layers of protection.

Access Control Levels

Granular Permissions: Strict access control allows administrators to define and assign granular permissions to users. Different access levels can be granted based on roles and responsibilities, limiting users to only the necessary information.

Compliance:

Regulatory Compliance: Many industries and jurisdictions have specific data protection and privacy regulations. Strict control mechanisms help organizations comply with these regulations by ensuring that data is accessed only by individuals with the necessary permissions.

Required Credentials: Compliance expectations should include SOC 2, PCI, FINRA, and FDA Section 11

Audit Trail:

Activity Monitoring: Strict access controls enable the creation of detailed audit trails. Every action taken within the VDR, such as document views, downloads, or uploads, should be logged. This audit trail is valuable for tracking user activity and investigating suspicious behavior and is required by certain industry governing agencies such as FINRA.

?Version Control:

Document Versioning: Strict control allows for the management of document versions. Versioning ensures that users access the latest and most accurate information, reducing the risk of misunderstandings or decisions based on outdated data.

Document History: Reporting, as in an audit trail report, is essential to avoid exposure to litigation in many transactions demonstrating the update or replacement of documents during review and negotiations.

Collaboration Efficiency:

Focused Collaboration: Users can collaborate more efficiently by accessing only the specific documents and data relevant to their roles. Reduce clutter and improve the overall collaboration process.

Role-Based Activity: Users may have access to tiered access to documents, keeping privileged access to the user's needs.

Preventing Information Leakage

External Collaboration: In scenarios where external parties need access to specific information, strict controls prevent the accidental or intentional sharing of unrelated or sensitive data. Control is crucial in maintaining confidentiality during negotiations or transactions. All recorded access and activities provide relevant parties with historical support for viewing activity.

Avoiding email Transmission: Documents shared using email are always exposed to unintended document access. Email should be used only for inviting a user or updating document availability, never allowing the user access unless logged in and validated access with a two-factor authentication process.

User Accountability:

Individual Accountability: Strict controls create a sense of individual accountability by assigning unique credentials to each user and tracking their actions through audit logs. Users are aware that their actions are monitored, discouraging unauthorized activities.

Emergency Response:??

Quick Restriction: In a security incident or a change in project dynamics, administrators can quickly adjust access permissions or revoke access entirely for certain users. This responsiveness is crucial in maintaining control over sensitive information.

Customization and Scalability:

Adaptability: Strict access controls can be tailored to the organization's and the project's specific needs. Access permissions can be scaled up or down as the project evolves.

In summary, having strict control over user access in a Virtual Data Room is essential for maintaining confidentiality, complying with regulations, enhancing collaboration efficiency, and safeguarding sensitive information during critical business processes.?????????

Conclusion:

Many utilities provide a false sense of security despite the impression of a safe process for sharing documents. The research will provide cautions that should be part of your VDR process and overall business process surrounding documents that go beyond transactional document storage.

OneDrive Security: Cloud Storage Risks The cloud is a great place to store data. Cloud backups help prevent data loss from fires, floods, and theft, while cloud storage is an easy way to increase your storage space or sync multiple devices. However, that doesn't mean you should rush to store all of your data online without considering the security of cloud storage. Even features like the OneDrive personal vault and file encryption may not prevent your files from being spread across the internet, where anyone can access them. Just so you know, links are shareable with no audit trail or validation of who accesses your documents. Attackers can modify list settings in containers inside SharePoint and OneDrive https://www.techrepublic.com/.

Dropbox Hacked: The 5GB database containing 68,680,741 accounts was stolen by hackers and later released to the dark web. The database contains user email addresses and hashed (protected) passwords. According to Dropbox, the data is legitimate. https://heroic.com/68-million-dropbox-user-accounts-hacked-and-released-to-the-internet/

Box Flaw Enables Folder/File Access to Unauthorized Users. Box.com's cloud-storage solution was recently discovered to make files stored in the service accessible by unauthorized external users. https://www.hackercombat.com/box-com-flaw-enables-folder-file-access-to-unauthorized-users/

?So, what is the difference between services like OneDrive, Box, Dropbox, and others? Virtual Data Rooms (VDRs) can be a safe and effective way to store and share sensitive data. VDRs are said to lower the risk of information theft by a third party. However, choosing the right VDR provider and taking cybersecurity are priorities to avoid such attacks.

I hope this information helps, and I welcome questions and feedback.

Vault Rooms has been an industry-leading cloud-based virtual data room provider with uncompromised security for over twenty years. We have proudly facilitated thousands of global customers storing corporate governess, project files, personnel files, FDA research, and M&A transactions across various industries for various clients – including investment bankers, accountants, attorneys, private equity firms, and banks.

Our virtual data rooms enable worldwide clients, 24/7/365, to safely collect, share, and track business-critical documents on the Vault Rooms platform. Learn how we protect sensitive documents with advanced Encryption, brute-force password processes, security protocols, reporting, and exceptional service supporting your transaction.

?VaultRooms.com 800-988-8850 [email protected]