Today’s work environment requires a lot of data sharing, which leads to an obvious increased risk of content theft, like the recent data leak that happened to PegasusEFB.
Businesses embracing smart working keep finding new ways to help their teams work more efficiently and effectively, but higher risks can also cause accidental data deletion, privacy compliance issues and all sorts of cyber threats.
It’s no surprise then that over 17,000 companies from all around the world use Egnyte to manage and secure their cloud content, and in this interview with Egnyte’s Co-Founder and Chief Security Officer, Kris Lahiri, we will discover how their platform helps secure files and sensitive data.
Let’s introduce yourself first. How did you end up in the cybersecurity field?
I received a B.Tech in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras, in addition to an M.S. from the University of Cincinnati. Since then, I’ve spent more than 20 years as a security practitioner designing and deploying large-scale infrastructure, including at KPMG Consulting and Valdero.
How did Egnyte start and how has it changed during the years?
I met fellow Egnyte co-founders Vineet Jain, Rajesh Ram, and Amrit Jassal while at KPMG, and we started the company in 2007. Egnyte has grown into much more than just cloud file sharing and content management over the years as we saw increasing concerns around privacy, security, and compliance. Businesses were no longer only interested in how to access their content, but also in how to keep their content secure. We addressed this need by evolving Egnyte into a content collaboration and governance platform that helps organizations to manage and secure their content all in one solution.
What are your software’s key capabilities?
Egnyte stands at the intersection of two large market categories: data governance and content collaboration. The platform enables organizations to secure and govern data across business applications, multi-cloud environments, and on-premises repositories. Egnyte not only helps organizations to keep their content secure but also allows users to collaborate and increase productivity anywhere.
In addition, the platform caters to high-performance and highly regulated industries – including Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC), Financial Services, and Life Sciences – by helping to address industry-specific needs like maintaining GxP compliance and reducing construction site delays.
And what’s in Egnyte’s roadmap for the future?
Egnyte has become especially relevant due to high-profile data breaches, new data privacy regulations, and the shift to remote/hybrid work. We will continue to enhance our security and data governance features – like ransomware detection and recovery – through our AI and machine learning capabilities, in addition to bolstering our vertical offerings.
Are most of your clients proactive or reactive to cyber threats?
The rise in cyberthreats has emphasized the importance of cybersecurity preparedness. Egnyte’s recent Cybersecurity Trends for Mid-Sized Organizations Report – based on a survey of 400 IT leaders – found that just 36% of organizations still do not have a formal incident response plan in place.
We recommend that companies of all sizes, including our customers, leverage holistic data governance tools to further enhance their cybersecurity protection. These include end-user training, access management to identify suspicious activity, and more.
What do you believe is the most dangerous risk for workers nowadays, especially those who are remote?
There are several risks in today’s work environment, but one of the most overlooked – and dangerous – is insider threats. In the wrong hands, a company’s sensitive data, such as customer lists and financial records, could easily be shared with the media or a business competitor. Some ransomware gangs even conspire with company employees directly to facilitate cyber attacks.
To effectively address insider threats, organizations should enact policies that govern what content is being accessed and by whom, which will help to detect potentially malicious activity.
In your opinion, are there any cybersecurity habits that remote employees should apply?
The shift to remote/hybrid work has reinforced the need to better manage data sprawl. According to Egnyte’s Cybersecurity Trends Report, 86% of mid-sized organizations manage between six and 15 data repositories. Data sprawl not only increases the potential cyber attack surface, but it can also impact users’ business productivity.
Overall, organizations should routinely inventory their data repositories because if they can’t see the full extent of their data, then they can’t properly secure it.