How to Ensure Secure Collaboration in the Modern Workplace

This time last year our workplace looked very different. We were all in offices. Most businesses have had to embrace the Modern Workplace far faster than they’d planned. With secure collaboration being a must for enabling this evolution. Beyond simply using more modern technology, there are several best practices the Modern Workplace can employ if it wants to ensure secure collaboration.

Employ security basics

Employing basics such as two-factor authentication and a good firewall is a must for secure collaboration, regardless of whether you’re working remotely or not. Some basic cyber security awareness training will also be wise, especially if your team is brand new to remote work.

Update your software

In many ways, this is an element of security basics. But it deserves its own mention as it’s such an important part of secure collaboration. Also, with employee devices outside the office, it can easily get forgotten about. Using remote device management tools is the ideal way to achieve this. They allow IT teams to centrally manage everything from software updates to security policies and helps to minimise any downtime caused by viruses or requests to your IT staff. This can be performed with tools like Microsoft Intune.

Minimise access to shared files

Secure collaboration involves sharing as little data as possible and with the smallest amount of people. Only give access to the employees working with said data and make it frictional for users to share information outside your organisation. This means if a cyber criminal gains access to an employee's account, they’ll have access to as little data as possible.

Avoid email as much as possible

Email is an open protocol that provides an inviting entry point for cyber criminals; any wrongdoer can send your business an email. Hardly surprising that phishing attacks rose by 600% in 2020, when the entire world embarked on more remote work. Sticking to collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams can ensure that phishing scams are clear as day should they land in your inbox.

Embrace Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams isn’t the only tool you’ll want for ensuring secure collaboration. As mentioned, Microsoft Intune can help manage tasks like software deployment, policy management, and security updates. Then for more secure collaboration, tools like Yammer (Microsoft’s social network), Stream (its video sharing platform), and of course the combination of OneDrive and SharePoint can help teams stay agile. Those are just a small selection, and when you include their extensive add-in library, Microsoft has a multitude of solutions for solving the secure collaboration problem.

There is certainly a lot more to both the modern workplace and secure collaboration than using the right tools and following some best practices. There’s a great deal both a business owner and an IT department can optimise. To delve deeper into both the modern workplace and secure collaboration, download our Modern Workplace eBook.

If you’d like to work with an award winning team, contact one of our experts today.