Securing Your Deals: Expert Advice on Virtual Data Rooms

What is the purpose of protecting a document with a password?

There’s a variety of reasons why people choose to password protect a document, though as explained below using password protection isn’t always the best way to protect your document.

Prevent Sharing with Others : most people figure that by adding a password to a document it will make it harder to share with others. What they fail to realize is how easy it is to share a password. Instead using something like Email authentication will help eliminate the ability for the intended recipient to share the document with others

Prevent Man in the Middle Attack : sharing via email is inherently dangerous as most email messages aren’t encrypted. Sharing a document with someone then sending the password using a different medium (e.g. text) helps eliminate someone who might be “listening”.

If you’re looking to help protect your documents check out Orangedox which provides some of the most secure ways to share your documents online.

What is the best cloud storage solution allowing you to add passwords to folders?

Some cloud storage providers offer password protection but typically only if you’re sharing this outside your organization.

Google Drive You can’t add passwords to shared folders, but if you use a document protection service like Orangedox which will let you share your documents securely without the need for a password, plus track whenever it’s opened or previewed

Dropbox Allows you to add a password plus set an expiry time

Box Allows you to share a password protected folder

One Drive Allows you to password protect an entire folder when shared, as well as on your desktop (unique to this service)

What is a good virtual data room solution for secure data sharing? 

Depends on what you’re looking to use the virtual data room for. If you’re looking to securely share documents in a read only format and you’re already using a platform like Google Drive then I’d recommend using Orangedox. You’ll be able to create secure virtual data rooms that are synced with your Google Drive, allowing you to add/remove files from Google Drive and have them show up on your data room. 

You’ll also be able to disable downloading of files and ensure that only the intended participant can access them (no forwarding or sharing files). Plus you can have as many people in your data room as you want for a fairly low monthly cost.

Is there any risk in using a virtual data room?

Yes, but it’s more riskier to not use a virtual data room.

Using any online service is risky, services do get hacked and there’s even more risk of you not using the product correctly and inadvertently sharing sensitive information.

However, not using a virtual data room to share sensitive information is even riskier. For example, using a shared Google Drive folder instead of a data room can get you into a whole bunch of trouble since Google Drive was never made for secure document sharing.

Best to use a data room product like Orangedox that plugs into your Google Drive and takes advantage of secure document sharing, real-time access controls and full document tracking.

How does a virtual data room work? 

Virtual Data Rooms have been around for many years now, and they’ve been used quite extensively since COVID. Here’s how they work

First you upload your documents to the service, then you select which participants (typically by email) you want to have access to your room. Each of those participants is then emailed a login to the room (or an email that takes them through a signup process) giving them access to read the documents in the room. Many virtual data room providers typically allow the creator of the room to prevent document downloading, which helps ensure that the participants don’t download and share the documents. Some also include features like document signing and the ability to make notes on the document.

The main complaint from virtual data room users is how complicated they are to set up. Having to upload entire volumes of documents to the service and define access rights can be a pain. Then there’s the cost which is usually tied to how many documents you share in the room, which can get very pricey!

This is why we created Orangedox. We’re one of the only virtual data room providers that integrates directly with a user's Google Drive, eliminating the need to copy files. Your data room is always synced with your Google Drive folder, where any changes are automatically applied to your room. Plus we offer a flat rate for pricing, one low monthly fee gives you the ability to create as many data rooms as you like with as many documents as your Google Drive can handle!

In an age of increasing cyber threats, the importance of robust document security cannot be overstated. Whether it's preventing unauthorized access or thwarting potential breaches, the choices we make in safeguarding our data shape the integrity of our transactions. For those seeking a comprehensive solution, Orangedox stands out as a beacon of innovation, offering seamless integration with existing platforms and unparalleled peace of mind in the realm of virtual data rooms.

Start your 14-day free trial of Orangedox Virtual Data Rooms and see what Orangedox can do for your business.

Orangedox provides one-click create virtual data rooms that are directly synced with your Google Drive folders.