File sharing is an odd area for organizations. On one hand, it helps employees better exchange information and tools they need to complete their work. On the other, it does pose a security risk, and most organizations are concerned about file sharing and data regulations, particularly in maintaining control as they continue to be shared every which way.

According to research from Intralinks Holdsings, Inc., published in a report titled “Enterprise Collaboration: Avoiding the Productivity and Control Trade-Off,” very few organizations feel they have proper visibility and control over how their information is shared. As such, there is a growing concern to maintain who company data reaches and how. However, that is not a concern shared by most employees, which helps perpetuate the problem.

The research has found some key information regarding file sharing, mostly bad news for organizations. For instance, most IT departments do not know how much employees are sharing content in consumer-focused cloud tools. Nearly half of the organizations surveyed are attempting to block such services, but with around 60 percent of employees using them, it’s not working.

As a result of these unsecured file-sharing tools, data is often being mishandled and leaked. Many employees have reported receiving files and e-mails not meant for them, or have sent one to the wrong person by mistake, causing more data to be lost by human error than by malicious attacks.

Thus, regulations involving security and content sharing are often changing and adapting to try and meet the risks. Even secure infrastructure does not always prevent information from getting mishandled and lost, so IT departments are constantly struggling and rushing to meet the new regulatory requirements and demands.

"We have invested a lot of time talking to global businesses about their enterprise collaboration needs and how they can safely share information,” said John Landy, the CTO of Intralinks. “The reality is most organizations have limited insight into what content is being shared, where it is being shared and who is sharing it. Companies need to strike that fine balance between usability and diligent control when evaluating their collaboration strategies. Based on the intelligence collected through these studies, this research paper advises businesses on best practice guidelines for implementing collaboration tools to ensure regulators are appeased, corporate IP is protected and employees remain productive."

Needless to say, file sharing has become both a blessing and a curse (unless you’re in the movie or music industry, in which case you’re almost certainly calling it just a curse). While it makes it much easier for employees to collaborate and share information and data, is it worth the associated risks? Yes, yes it is. However, that does mean that we need better, safer ways to ensure data gets shared with the proper people, even through outside, cloud-based sources. Perhaps technology is not yet at the point where we can have both control and freedom, but it will reach that point eventually, as long as there is a need for it.