Insecure File Sharing and How to Prevent Data Loss
By Patronum
April 09, 2025
Read Time: 4 mins

By Patronum
April 09, 2025
Read Time: 4 mins
In today’s fast-paced digital world, file sharing has become an integral part of how businesses collaborate and operate. Whether it’s exchanging documents with colleagues, sharing reports with clients, or transferring sensitive company data, the ability to quickly and securely share files is crucial.
However, insecure file sharing poses a major security risk that can lead to data breaches, regulatory fines, financial losses, and reputational damage. Organisations must implement robust data protection strategies to mitigate insider threats and prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information.
In this article, we’ll explore the dangers of insecure file sharing, the impact of insider threats, and how data loss prevention (DLP) solutions—like those offered by Patronum+—can safeguard organisations against these risks.
The convenience of cloud-based file sharing has revolutionised the way organisations collaborate. However, when security protocols are not enforced, businesses expose themselves to significant vulnerabilities.
Employees—whether acting maliciously or negligently—pose one of the biggest risks to data security. Former employees with lingering access or careless users who accidentally expose sensitive data can cause irreversible damage.
While most organisations focus on external cyber threats as a common file sharing security risk, insider threats are often overlooked. These occur when individuals within the company (employees, contractors, or business partners) misuse their access to confidential data.
In March 2022, Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish low-cost carrier, inadvertently exposed approximately 23 million files containing sensitive data due to a misconfigured AWS S3 bucket. The exposed data included flight charts, navigation materials, crew personally identifiable information (PII), and software source code. This incident was attributed to employee negligence in configuring cloud storage settings.
In December 2024, Lloyds Banking Group mistakenly sent a client hundreds of pages containing sensitive investment data of other customers due to “human error”. The package included bank statements with names, addresses, and portfolio values, including one over £5 million. The bank has since changed its processes to prevent recurrence and offered the affected customer compensation.
In July 2008, Wagner Resource Group, a Virginia-based investment firm, suffered a data breach after an employee installed a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing application on a company computer. This mistakenly exposed the firm’s entire client database to the P2P network, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of approximately 2,000 clients. The breach was discovered six months later when a Washington Post reader found the exposed data online.
In 2014, a teenager exploited security weaknesses in Dropbox to access and leak unreleased music from Skrillex. By manipulating file-sharing permissions, he was able to retrieve private files without authorisation. The breach highlighted the risks of improper cloud storage security, particularly for sensitive or proprietary digital assets.
These incidents highlight the urgent need for strict data loss prevention strategies and file-sharing security solutions.
To address the growing risks of insecure file sharing, businesses must deploy data protection tools that provide real-time monitoring, automated file compliance, and robust access controls.
Organisations can enhance data security by following these best practices:
As file-sharing risks continue to rise, businesses must prioritise data protection and implement proactive data loss prevention measures. By leveraging Patronum’s advanced security features, organisations can safeguard their Google Workspace environment, detect insider threats, and ensure compliance with industry regulations. Don’t wait until a data breach occurs—secure your organisation today with Patronum.
Want to learn more about Patronum+, Click here to see how Patronum can help you secure your Google Workspace file data.