So, as we discussed, social engineering is usually the weakest link in document and IT security.

Our virtual dataroom clients frequently ask us for advice or best practices to fight social engineering.  Here are the top 6 we tell them:

1.Protect Your Passwords

This sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s not as straightforward as it sounds. People regularly give out passwords without realizing it, for reasons such as receiving a text message from the “boss” saying he has forgotten his password and can’t access his information while in an important meeting. Make it a rule for no-one to disclose a password ever, under any circumstances whatsoever. If a password is mislaid, follow secure protocols for resetting it and creating a new one.

Social engineering is probably the biggest threat for your confidential information.  We as dataroom providers spend a very significant amount of time making sure that our professionals are well versed in the tricks that can take down the most secure systems.   

"How do you as a Virtual Data provider destroy your documents?  What should I do to destroy our data?" A very good client asked us this question the other day.  

In the third of our posts about a robust security policy from a Virtual Data Room provider's perspective, let’s take a look at how you actually implement the policy.  As in other posts in these series, we are sharing with you some of the learning/policies, that we have implemented in EthosData to manage our Dataroom business.

The hardest part of the process is often rolling it out to your organization and getting employees’ buy-in and commitment to comply with it. The best intentioned projects can fall flat when it comes to the implementation phases, so you need to plan this step carefully to ensure its success.

Law firms are increasingly deploying their own Internet-based virtual data rooms (VDRs), as part of their basic document management solution. This is a good idea in theory because it keeps confidential documentation in-house, leading to a sense of greater control. It also expands the use of the VDRs beyond the relatively small number of service providers that operate facilities. Often, the firms use white-label VDR technology supplied by a vendor.

Security of your critical business data is paramount no matter if you are running a high profile transaction through a Virtual Data Room or just running your normal business transaction on a daily basis. Companies, regardless of size, rely on critical business data in order to succeed and flourish.