Securing your Team Collaboration strategy
As the demand for team collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack continues to rise, business leaders need to ensure that they’re selecting tools that aren’t just feature-rich, but compliant too. As valuable as collaboration tools can be, they also present new challenges when it comes to security and data protection. Not all cloud-based collaboration solutions have the same defence capabilities.
Fortunately, third-party vendors like AGAT Software are on-hand to step in and deliver the additional security that companies need. Recently, AGAT announced that it is now delivering a wide variety of compliance and security solutions for the Slack platform based on its award winning SphereShield Product. SphereShield for Slack will expand AGAT’s existing portfolio for collaboration, which already includes solutions for Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams.
I spoke to Yoav Crombie, CEO of AGAT Software, to learn more.
Tell Us About the New Slack Solution
Yoav told me that the introduction of the SphereShield for Slack security solution to their portfolio has allowed them to create a more complete offering for collaboration tools. The latest offering is the world’s most comprehensive suite of compliance and cyber-security solutions for Slack. Thanks to AGAT’s proprietary technology, the team has been able to develop capabilities that can’t be found anywhere else in the market.
“We wanted to equal the same capabilities that businesses have with SphereShield for Microsoft Teams and Cisco, Webex, and bring them to the Slack environment.”
“The solution that we have for Slack is a one-of-a-kind product, providing extensive compliance tools, access control, and threat protection”
The AGAT team has been working hard over the last months to ensure that Sphereshield for Slack is state-of-the-art. The solution even comes with two features that can’t be found anywhere else on the landscape for collaboration tools. These include the Ethical Wall, and the Threat Prevention services among other capabilities that complete the solution to be the most comprehensive set of tools offered in the compliance space
What is the Slack Ethical Wall and Threat Protection?
The Ethical wall is one of the most exciting features that AGAT has to offer for Slack users, according to Yoav. It provides users with a granular level of custom control on how their conversations and data should be exchanged. You can control exactly who should be able to communicate with who, which capabilities are allowed for communications and more. Users can even decide who in their teams can share files, desktops, and audio.
“For Financial, Governance, Health institutions and other groups that require a lot of regulation, the ethical wall solution will become absolutely essential. No other company has this solution for Slack. We already provide ethical wall technology for Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex. Now users can access the most granular level of control for Slack too.”
The second unique feature of AGAT’s solution for Slack is its Threat Prevention service. This technology scans all of the file and messaging content sent by users before it transfers through the cloud to end-user devices. The scanning strategy can help to prevent security threats by detecting and stopping malware, viruses, and phishing attacks.
What Other Features Can Users Expect?
SphereShield for Slack provided by AGAT also comes with a variety of other advanced security and protection tools. Yoav told me that “data leak prevention (DLP) is included for all files and documents, and we’ll be adding audio soon too.”
Yoav told me that the data leak prevention technology available from AGAT can be delivered through the AGAT engine, or the company can integrate with other third-party tools. With data leak prevention, companies can have more control when it comes to securing private information just as bank account numbers, credit card details, social security numbers, and any other user-defined rules. The system will display alerts for potential issues, and block messages in almost real-time.
“We also offer archiving and eDiscovery with a flexible and intuitive solution that makes searching for and importing information as quick and simple as possible.” The eDiscovery functionality brings a new opportunity to companies to archive their data either on-site or in the cloud. SphereShield can even integrate with any existing eDiscovery solutions that are already present in the business.
Another feature of the Slack SphereShield is the risk engine, which comes with anomaly behaviour detection, IP verification, and geolocation to keep information secure.
“We profile user behaviour and create security events wherever we find anomalies”
What Does it Mean to Bring Slack to your Portfolio?
AGAT’s decision to launch SphereShield for Slack solutions into its protection portfolio for team collaboration tools means that the company can provide coverage for 3 of the most popular unified communication solutions on the market. Crombie told me that Slack has a lot of opportunity to integrate with leading vendors. Although it doesn’t always have the same security features built-in as other tools like Teams and Webex Teams, it does leave room for support from external companies.
“SphereShield for Slack is further evidence that the AGAT team is committed to making sure that we can really make a difference to the security of unified communications software.”
What’s more, Yoav noted that AGAT has a lot up their sleeve for further functionality in the future. The company is already working on advanced new features for its pipeline as well as additional vendors including Zoom and RingCentral (Glip)
In the meantime, live demos of the new Slack security and privacy features are now available to anyone who wants to put the tools to the test. The SphereShield for Slack offering will assist companies in complying with everything from Finra and FSA, to PCI-DSS and Dodd-Frank.
