Dropbox for Business Released with Improved Security

Dropbox is continuing to promote its push to offer a more business-friendly cloud service, and has announced that it will rename its Dropbox for Teams SMB cloud storage and file-sharing service as Dropbox for Business.

To demonstrate its increased security and management for businesses and their users, a single sign-on (SSO) via Active Directory (or another key identity provider) was also unveiled. This is, according to a product manager at the company, Anand Subramani, one of the most requested features from customers.

The SSO feature is the latest in a series of moves from Dropbox to make its service more useful for business users. It recently, for example, broadened the reach of its business cloud file-sharing and synchronization by email through the acquisition of the iOS mobile app, Mailbox, which manages emails on Apple devices.

In August 2012, Dropbox implemented a two-factor authentication procedure in consequence of the theft of hundreds of customer email addresses after the password of an employee was stolen. Spam from thefts of usernames and passwords from other sites were also used to access accounts.

According to Subramani, SSO offers simplified and enhanced security provisions for business users. He wrote: “For users, SSO means ease – one fewer password to remember and one fewer step to get to your work. Once logged in to your system, there's no need to sign in to Dropbox separately. For IT admins, SSO means additional security and administrative management. [SSO] gives you complete ownership of the authentication process and works with your company's existing password policies. It also easily ties into the existing Dropbox provisioning and de-provisioning API to provide further Active Directory integration.”

Ping Identity, Okta, OneLogin, Centrify and Symplified are some identity provider partners which Dropbox is working with in order to implement SSO from May, according to Subramani. He added that the new security feature works with providers that implement industry-standard Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML).

The Dropbox for Team moniker for the organization’s business offering is also being scrapped, and will be renamed Dropbox for Business. Subramani stated: “With all the changes we're making to create a Dropbox that’s better for companies both large and small, it's become clear that the name 'Dropbox for Teams' doesn’t quite fit anymore.”

File and email sharing are possible with Dropbox for Business, as is collaboration and synchronization with numerous users. Business management capabilities are also provided. (CY) Link