Secure FileShare Solution – MyWorkDrive

FileShare

MyWorkDrive FileShare Software enables secure online access and collaboration for your existing enterprise file shares, without the need for data migration or re-creating permissions. Add cloud capabilities while maintaining control over your company’s storage infrastructure.

MyWorkDrive FileShare seamlessly integrates with your internal network, allowing you to leverage your existing Active Directory file share permissions. This ensures that your data remains securely accessible online, adhering to your established access controls. Whether your file shares reside on-premises or in the cloud, MyWorkDrive FileShare Software empowers your workforce with secure, collaborative file access from anywhere.

Windows File Sharing Remote Access

In a recent Microsoft survey of customers, Windows File sharing continues to be used at a majority of enterprises with over 70% utilizing fileshare infrastructure on-premise or in their own data centers. Cloud file services simply cannot match the speed, security, and control of a local fileshare.

While Windows fileshares excel in on-premises environments, they present challenges when remote access, mobility, and collaboration are required. In a typical enterprise setup, users are granted VPN access to map drives to company fileshares. This approach burdens IT teams with supporting and managing potentially thousands of VPN connections across end-user devices. Furthermore, remotely scripting drives proves ineffective, and with new malware and viruses emerging daily, data loss becomes a paramount concern.

Shadow IT also poses a challenge as users demand easy, cloud-style remote access with mobile capabilities, straightforward external file sharing, and real-time document collaboration with coworkers – functionalities that Windows fileshares were not designed to provide. This mismatch between user expectations and the inherent limitations of traditional fileshares can lead to unauthorized adoption of unsanctioned solutions, further compounding security and compliance risks.

MyWorkDrive FileShare Software solves these problems with our web based remote access for Windows fileshares. With MyWorkDrive, Windows fileshares are made available to users remotely over a browser, mapped drive, or mobile client using an https SSL connection. Existing fileshares are not modified and can be accessed simultaneously by users internally with a traditional mapped drive. File locking, user groups, and permissions on fileshares are also honored.

Explanation of MyWorkDrive file share remote access topology.

File remote access sharing topology

When MyWorkDrive FileShare Software is deployed existing fileshare data is made available over https from a Microsoft IIS Website. MyWorkDrive’s web-based file manager provides enterprises with the best of both worlds: secure, fast, local access combined with the cloud services users have come to expect. This approach eliminates security concerns while reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) while leveraging your existing file share infrastructure. Enterprises can deploy our private cloud fileshare access server software to enable secure online access without moving data to the cloud while still offering full cloud functionality including:

  • Web Browser fileshare Access from Anywhere
  • Mapped Drive over HTTPS
  • Online Collaboration in Office 365
  • Mobile (iOS & Android) Apps and Office Apps Access
  • Internal & External File Sharing
  • Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

Easy Access to Existing Storage

MyWorkDrive offers access to Windows fileshare storage within the enterprise, all through our intuitive mobile, desktop, and web applications that users find simple to use. By seamlessly connecting to your existing Active Directory and fileshare storage infrastructure, MyWorkDrive serves as a single point of access to files across the enterprise. This seamless integration empowers your workforce with a unified, user-friendly experience, while ensuring that your data remains securely hosted within your organizational boundaries.

Admins can configure existing fileshares to be made available to users remotely, while preserving existing NTFS permissions and Access-Based Enumeration settings. Regardless of the access method, detailed logs are available for compliance and security purposes. MyWorkDrive seamlessly integrates with your existing backup solutions, eliminating the need for data migration to new SQL databases or the recreation of backup strategies. Furthermore, it seamlessly incorporates Windows Previous Versions, enabling end-users to access and restore previous file versions directly through our web-based file manager.

Security Features of MyWorkDrive

Data Leak Prevention

MyWorkDrive FileShare Software empowers organizations to prevent data theft, loss of company data, and ensure compliance while allowing secure online viewing and editing of files and shares. All user file-sharing activities are securely logged, searchable, and timestamped, with the option of watermarking for added protection. For enhanced security, administrators can lock down file shares to prevent clipboard copying or printing within our encrypted viewer. Additionally, MyWorkDrive can be configured to provide alerts on suspicious user activity, enabling proactive monitoring and response to potential threats.

All Data Remains on Your Server

Unlike services that require uploading your confidential company data, MyWorkDrive FileShare Software leaves all shared files intact on your servers. We do not store your data or passwords – everything remains under your control within your own private cloud environment, ensuring that your sensitive information never leaves your organizational boundaries, providing you with complete ownership and governance over your assets.

Two Factor Authentication

Enterprises can leverage our integration with DUO Two-Factor Authentication or any other SAML provider to mandate two-step verification for secure remote access to fileshares. This crucial layer of security ensures that only authorized users can gain access to your organization’s sensitive data when accessing it remotely.

Device Approval

Network administrators can exercise granular control by preventing unapproved devices from connecting to fileshares remotely, ensuring that only authorized and approved devices gain access. MyWorkDrive FileShare Software provides visibility into usage patterns, last login details, and operating system information for all connected clients, enabling effective monitoring and auditing of access activities.

Compliance

MyWorkDrive offers the necessary safeguards to help companies meet their security requirements and compliance standards, such as CMMC, FINRA, FIPS, FedRAMP, HIPAA, and GDPR. MyWorkDrive has been awarded the Skyhigh CloudTrust™ “enterprise-ready” rating for its fileshare remote access software by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). CIO Review has also recognized MyWorkDrive as a leader in compliance software.

Why MyWorkDrive?

MyWorkDrive was developed by the founders of Intivix, an IT Support and Consulting firm founded in 1996 based in San Francisco California. As an IT support firm and Microsoft Gold Partner, we received frequent requests from clients to provide a remote file access solution that is simple, fast, and secure. The team at MyWorkDrive has used our 30 years of File Sharing, IT Support, and Enterprise Security experience to deliver the most advance and secure private cloud sharing software in the marketplace.

MyWorkDrive was founded around the core value that organizations should have the option to retain ownership and control of their files, whether they are stored online or locally and should not be forced to migrate, convert, or store them in proprietary cloud storage providers necessitating vendor lock-in just to experience the benefits of secure online access or collaboration. Since MyWorkDrive does not store customer’s data, our privacy policy exceeds compliance requirements of competing solutions.

MyWorkDrive FileShare Software provides a software-only solution for secure remote file access from anywhere and for any device, wherever files are stored. Users gain access in minutes without Sync, VPN, RDP, or migrating data. MyWorkDrive is for IT leaders looking for a cloud-like file sharing solution that has ransomware protection & DLP, facilitates data governance compliance (FIPS, HIPAA, FINRA, GDPR), enhances Office Online real-time editing & collaboration with a lower TCO. MyWorkDrive gives you easy, secure, remote access to your organization’s fileshares without a VPN, without data being stored outside of your control, and without syncing to remote computers.

No Migrating Your Fileshares

  • Leverage existing storage
  • Inherited NTFS permissions
  • Infinite scalability

No Vendor Lock-in

  • Use your current storage
  • Seamless integration with current infrastructure
  • No syncing

Work side by side with traditional Fileshares

  • File Locking across all platforms
  • Online Co-editing with Office 365
  • Mobile Access from anywhere

No Dual Administration

  • Active Directory integration by default
  • Utilize existing groups
  • Permissions inherited from NTFS

FileShare Access Benefits of MyWorkDrive

According to the latest HPE report, Enterprises continue to maintain their own data centers for file shares with 90% expecting to pay a premium for on-premise storage. Until now, accessing file shares online involved supporting VPN software or migrating files to an online storage provider. MyWorkDrive changes all that by enabling cloud-like access to fileshares without the expense of migrating data or the security risks of traditional cloud storage.

MyWorkDrive empowers enterprises to instantly enable online fileshare access for their users, seamlessly integrating with existing Windows fileshares, permissions, and Active Directory. As the only solution that provides cloud-like online file share access while preserving traditional mapped drive access internally, MyWorkDrive offers a unique advantage. IT administrators simply install a small Windows virtual machine on-premises, join it to their Active Directory, add the MyWorkDrive server software, and instantly gain the ability to provide secure online file share access from anywhere to users via browser, mobile client, and desktop.

MyWorkDrive’s disruptive patented technology enables enterprises to provide instant access to their fileshares online without migrating data to new systems, moving to 3rd party online storage, or disruptions to their workflow.

  • Increase productivity with easy to use web browser interface
  • Access and share files from Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, or any web-enabled device
  • Collaborate with business partners using OneDrive for external sharing
  • Access file shares at high speed using traditional fileshare mapped drives on-premise
  • Online file editing using Office 365
  • Avoid investments and expense of new online fileshare databases or migrations
  • Secure fileshare collaboration with native NTFS Active Directory user access permissions, detailed logging, and 4096 bit RSA encryption

Flexible Access to Fileshares Online or On-Premise

Enterprises need to be productive in the office and on the go. Native applications for mobile including, iPhone, iPad, and Android enable online access to Windows fileshares while on the road. Users can also quickly access fileshares from anywhere using our Mapped Drive or Web Browser clients with the ability to upload, download, drag and drop, and edit online with nothing to install or support. With all access methods, Windows Active Directory folder-based NTFS permissions are natively enforced with the additional security of two factor authentication when fileshares are accessed online.

Author

Daniel Gordon, Founder of MyWorkDrive.com, has worked in various technology management roles serving enterprises, government and education in the San Francisco bay area since 1992. Daniel is certified in Microsoft Technologies and writes about information technology, security and strategy and has been awarded US Patent #9985930 in Remote Access Networking.