Securing the last-mile of cloud collaboration with Box and Microsoft

Today, we are excited to announce that Box Shield’s security controls now extend to Microsoft Office 365 web editors (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Through Box Shield’s classification-based access policies, end users can open and edit a classified file within these applications online. At the same time, admins can prevent data leakage by restricting users from printing, downloading, and sharing operations.

The need for securing the last-mile of cloud collaboration

Today, end-users need to access, review, and edit content from their productivity tool of choice, whether on desktop apps or through the web. However, enabling this can result in content sprawl and potential leakage of sensitive information. We’ve heard from many of our customers that they need a more seamless way to prevent unauthorized download and print operations, while still enabling internal and external collaboration.

It’s time for a different approach

Solving this problem is difficult, especially when it comes to preventing data leakage by external users and users on unmanaged devices. By leveraging our investments in secure preview technology, best-of-breed integrations, and native security controls, Box Shield provides a frictionless experience for protecting your most valuable content. There are no agents required on user devices.

How do the last-mile controls work in Box Shield?

If an end-user opens a classified file in Office apps on the web when a Box Shield access policy is in place, the following actions are restricted within Office: 

• Print from file menu: This option is hidden based on the classification of content in Box
• Print from browser: An attempt to print from the browser will lead to blank pages only
• Share option: When a user generates document embed links for files in Box, access to content via the embed link for Box is restricted
• Save As: This file menu, when present, is limited to “rename” action

For e.g. if Box Shield’s download restriction is enforced, the option to print will be hidden from the file menu within the Office application on the web.

Here’s more detail on how Box Shield is setting the new standard for intelligent content security in the enterprise:

What are the benefits for IT Teams?

With this new integration with Office, IT can better serve the needs of the business while reducing administrative overhead. IT doesn’t need to roll out an agent across all endpoints, and users on unmanaged devices don't need to use sub-standard online editors to edit. With intelligent built-in security, internal and external users can collaborate without friction while IT can prevent data leakage and reduce risks from content sprawl.

We’re excited to continue redefining the way teams collaborate and secure their content across our partner ecosystem.

To learn more, visit our Box Shield product page and documentation on Box community pages.