FileString is an easy to use cloud-based service that attaches a digital string to the important files you share, so you can track and control how your recipients view, download and print your content.
A 2015 survey by Biscom revealed some frightening statistics on internal Intellectual Property theft. 85% of employees take intellectual property from their companies when they leave, and 25% of employees take intellectual property that they didn’t even work on themselves.
Cloud file storage and sharing services have only exacerbated this problem. Most employees these days have their own personal Dropbox and/or Google Drive accounts with which they can use to transfer your company’s intellectual property.
How can you prevent this from happening?
Here are a few short steps that every company should take to reduce the risk of internal intellectual property theft:
1. Make sure that your Human Resources (HR) policies and training address intellectual property and your company’s rules about accessing and using that property. When onboarding a new employee or contractor, make sure that they understand and agree that their work is the property of the company and not the employee/contractor. Furthermore, make sure that they know that the transfer of any company file to an unauthorized file sharing service is forbidden. When terminating an employee/contractor, make sure to remind them of this agreement.
2. Block unauthorized file storage and sharing services on your company’s internet router. Also be sure to prevent file unauthorized file transfer between desktop/laptop and mobile devices.
3. Keep a record of any emails sent from employee accounts to their personal email account with large attachments.
4. Utilize a secure file sharing service that
- Can control who can view, forward, and print files;
- Is able to track activity by recipient. This will give you a record of who has viewed (and for how long), forwarded, and printed each file;
- Allows you to easily identify files shared with a specific employee and enables you to revoke access to all files quickly and easily (i.e. former employees or former contractors);
- Enables you to remotely “wipe” (permanently remove) access to unauthorized files on all the former employee’s devices.
This list may seem daunting at first, but the good news is that FileString can help you with item four. No other file sharing service on the market today can provide this same level of control and tracking over the distribution of your company’s internal intellectual property, safeguarding against theft.
A critical extra layer of protection is a must to anyone who has a legal or financial reason to protect the files that they share with others. FileString empowers people and businesses to control distribution of their content with an easy-to-use system.
Give FileString a try by signing up here
