Mfarhanonline Social Media News: Gil Zimmermann is CEO and cofounder of CloudLock , a Waltham, MA-based company that secures corporate data stored in Google Docs. As companies move their operations into the cloud, admins must be aware of the risks to their data. While there are obvious benefits to storing data online — cost savings, instant availability, collaboration features and the increasing popularity of Google Docs — companies need to treat data stored in the cloud differently than data on the premises. End-users gain much more control, forcing IT to hand over some of the security reigns for the sake of easier business collaboration. Here are five tips to make sure that Google Docs and IT can cohabit efficiently and securely. 1. Sharing Permissions are in the Hands of the User The Google Docs model delegates control and responsibility to the users themselves. It's up to end-users, rather than IT, to determine with whom data is shared, so information can potentially be made available to the wrong people or groups within a company, external people outside the domain, or the public Internet. 2. Data Location In Google Apps, information is created by users and resides in their individual accounts (as opposed to a central location). Furthermore, if an account is deleted, so is all of that user's data. There is no notion of a central shared file server that is run by IT. Companies using Google Docs need to understand what data users have and own before making any account deletions. 3. Access Privileges Companies using Google Docs need to identify and report on who has access to sensitive data. This is needed not only to keep data secure in a collaborative environment but to adhere to auditing and compliance requirements. Keeping track of who is accessing and using information with an audit trail becomes a critical component in protecting data ! against misuse by both end users and admins. 4. Data Leakage Companies using Google Docs must be able to inspect their data and be alerted when action is needed. For example, let's say that a company has a top-secret project called "Project Monkeyfeet" that they only want approved personnel to know about. They should be alerted any time the term is used in a Google Doc and change access permissions as necessary. This helps protect data from both internal and external threats. Google Apps do not currently have this function baked in. 5. Data Loss In addition to protecting their data, companies need to be able to retain records, migrate data and back it up without losing anything. Since control is in the hands of the users, businesses need to protect themselves and users from erroneous and malicious deletions caused by human error. There is a much higher risk that an employee will unknowingly delete a document or an admin will delete a user — along with all the data they own — than of a Google Docs system disruption or failure. Protecting Business Data in Google Docs Even in companies that have gone Google, IT admins have more power than ever before. In Google, all users and their data are condensed into a single "virtual" location: A big departure from distributed, unstructured data sprawling across hundreds of network devices. Furthermore, this information is accessible via data access and management API s. Companies with development resources can write their own apps to integrate data stored in Google Docs with other internal processes and applications. Additionally, the Google Apps Marketplace is a veritable candy store for IT admins. The Marketplace contains hundreds of third-party applications that allow organizations to build upon and customize Google Apps’ features. Google does an excellent job of securing business data in the cloud. It's virtually impossible for outsiders to gain access to a company's data without their permission. It's that "permission" part that companies u! sing Goo gle Docs should be cautious about. Understand how your employees are using and sharing data and then leverage the technologies and solutions the cloud has enabled to completely protect your data. More About: business , cloud , Google , google docs , it , security , social media , Web Development For more Business & Marketing coverage: Follow Mfarhanonline Business & Marketing on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business & Marketing channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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