Research from Hornetsecurity shows that more than half of organisations (51 per cent) that use the Microsoft Teams platform share “business-critical” information.

The report also highlighted that 45 per cent of users send confidential and sensitive information frequently via Teams.

On the back of the research, Hornetsecurity has stated that there is an urgent need for greater backup for the Microsoft Teams platform due to the issue of security often being overlooked.

Daniel Hofmann, Hornetsecurity CEO, said: “The increasing use of chat services has changed the way many now conduct work, and with this change, the risk of data loss has unfortunately increased.

“Companies must have adequate safeguards in place to protect and secure business data otherwise, they run the risk of productivity, financial and data loss.

“This is because Microsoft does not provide robust protection of data shared via Teams – so beyond the cybersecurity vulnerabilities, organisations must ensure information and files shared across the platform are backed up in a secure, responsible way.”

According to Hornetsecurity, the user behaviours of those who use the Teams platform make it “ripe for data loss”.

Ninety per cent of the study respondents stated that Teams Chat is the preferred form of business communication, with more than 40 per cent of people sending a minimum of 10 direct messages a day.

The cybersecurity company said that users tend to send more sensitive information when they are using personal devices compared to using a work device.

More than half of the respondents said they see employee training and awareness as the main approach to reducing cybersecurity risks.

Due to 89 per cent of them using Teams Chat more than Group Channel Conversations, Hornetsecurity has developed a third-party backup provider to protect the full range of Teams communications.

According to Hornetsecurity, the 365 Total Backup is the only third-party backup that covers all communication platforms within the Microsoft Teams ecosystem.

Hornetsecurity’s report comes just weeks after researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison published findings on the lack of adequate security features in Microsoft Teams’ and Slack’s applications.

The paper, titled “Experimental Security Analysis of the App Model in Business Collaboration Platforms”, demonstrates how third-party apps can be used to control workplace tools.  

Teams and Slack were both found to have inadequate default settings that allow users to install apps for whole workspaces.

Last month, Microsoft added several Meetings features to its VoIP calls following questions about the security of video conferencing platforms.

The company made tabs, bots, in-meeting dialogues, and meeting stages available in Teams VoIP calls. All the functionalities of a Teams Meeting can be enjoyed in Teams VoIP Calls.

 

 



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