Microsoft Sharepoint and OneDrive gets New Secure External Sharing Features

by Server Consultancy Manager

In the Microsoft Ignite conference that took place some time ago, two major features were announced to be released in upcoming updates. Earlier there were many issues by users trying to share files to some external person as sharing was only allowed to those who had a Microsoft account. This is not the case anymore. Both Sharepoint and OneDrive gets major upgrades in the way external sharing works in them.

Complete Access to Specific Recipients

While using Microsoft 365 you can share files/folders easily with the shareable links. Any and all intended recipients when opening the link, are granted immediate access without going through any long verification process. You can even create custom shareable links of your own that can only be viewed by your team within your organization itself.

Taking a step further, you can assign links to specific people who will have to go through a layer of extra security measure that they are the intended recipients. For example, you are working in a company A and you need to share some files to your client B. Now you can share a link where only a particular email or group of emails will be able to view and/or edit the document. Those intended recipients will receive a verification code on their email valid for a limited period of time and will need to log in with the same email to access the document.

With the help of these secured external links, you can easily provide access to files/folders to others persons who don't have a Microsoft account. Though, if they are trying to use it in Sharepoint Environment, then, in that case, they need to have a Hotmail or Live email account to be able to log in. Not only email-based verification codes are extremely secure, they are also familiar to the bunch of users surfing regularly via internet sites.

Time-Based Identity Re-Verification of Recipients

Earlier a recipient used to have access until it was revoked by the original file owner. Now you can do this easily after a certain period of time. The files and folders that you share can be customized to ask for new codes and re-verification of email after a specific number of days. With the help of this feature, you can now protect your valuable documents from unnecessary and invalid access to persons who are no longer in the loop.

To enable this feature, you only need to look for it in the ‘Sharing Section' of your particular file or folder. This method is particularly beneficial for sharing files/folders with the external users who may no longer be concerned with it after a certain amount of time. Nowadays, people outsource a lot and with this feature, now they need not worry about someone having access after a requisite period of time that they need to have it for.

This collaboration not only includes your organization but extends to external business contacts which essentially do not come within your corporate structure. Earlier in the day, to manage the security of such system admins were burdened with the extra responsibility of managing the user logins and access. Now with the help of this, you can easily do so without any extra efforts.

If you or your company regularly engages in external sharing of files or folders outside the organization, then it's the time that you make a move to Microsoft Sharepoint and Office 365. You can even share content with people outside your organization who do not possess your Office 365 subscription. Also, take a look at How to Enhance Productivity with Cost Savvy OneDrive.