Folder Permission Tips for Your Business

Folder Permissions – the often forgotten but essential security tool.

Folder permissions are at the heart of data security within your organization, so it deserves high-level attention. The fundamental reason for establishing folder permissions across a network is so a business can safeguard business files within a shared drive. For example, you most likely don’t want all employees within your organization to have open access to accounting and financial data. In addition to that, folder permissions allow rapid identification of potential failures when a data breach occurs.

Usually, the best practice is to plan out organizational data access on a need-to-know basis. A simple principle to keep in mind is the fewer people with access to particular data sets, the less exposed your business has.

So, what are the main ways you set up folder permissions?

Permission-Based Access

This type of access is restricted to particular individuals and applies to specific sections of company data. For example, user A may access data in their division, such as the HR, but needs read permissions for certain financial information.

Role-Based Access

This type of folder permission which allows control of user groups through Microsoft’s active directory or Azure services is quite common. These inbuilt security features enable your organization to enforce file permission policies across many users. This reduces the potential for exposure of sensitive data.

Role-based access simplifies setting up folder permissions, especially when a new employee joins your organization. The process is as simple as informing AZCOMP Technologies of the role the new employee will play in the organization and leaving the rest to us.

Sharepoint and Teams

Sharepoint and Teams can get role-based access together with standard network shares. But for an added layer of data security, determine if external sharing is necessary for the file share.

In most access, teams will leverage the URL feature that allows file sharing through emails. We often recommend enforcing strict restrictions for external users.

While role-based services have Anonymous User Access and Guest Access as standard features, edit access and control the individual permissions. This reduces the chances of some of your data falling into the wrong hands through shareable access.

Establish a Clear Policy

Clear documentation on access grants, adding new directories and naming groups creates a reference point. The documentation helps get everyone on the same page and provides better explanations in various areas.

The number of organizations under the AZCOMP Technologies lap has been growing consistently. We have always seen their folder or file structure grow enormously, so keeping an eye on every one of these folders becomes an uphill task for these clients.

As part of our managed IT services, we provide a high-level analysis to our clients of access permissions and individual roles on files and folders. Our services stretch to the migration of the data to a more transparent and secure system. Reach out to learn more about how our managed IT services can benefit your business.

About AZCOMP Technologies

AZCOMP Technologies opened its doors in 2000 and has been providing managed IT services to companies across industries in Phoenix. Most of our time is spent working on our client’s computers and networks to prevent unexpected interruptions. We ensure organizations do business with peace of mind.