What happened
A new survey from communications provider Wire found a significant gap between how confident European organizations feel about collaboration security and how securely they actually manage sensitive information.
The survey, which included IT professionals across the UK, France, and Germany, found that 84% of respondents were confident in the security of their collaboration environments, while 79% believed they had strong control over access to collaboration data. However, the findings revealed several weaknesses beneath that confidence.
Only 29% said their collaboration tools were fully suitable for handling sensitive communications. Meanwhile, 61% reported that access to shared files often remained active longer than necessary, 34% struggled to determine who had access to sensitive files, and 19% found it very difficult to revoke access once permissions had been granted.
According to Benjamin Schilz, CEO of Wire, many organizations correctly secure their officially approved collaboration platforms but overlook the widespread use of unsanctioned consumer applications. He said this creates a blind spot that exposes organizations to unnecessary security and compliance risks.
Who is affected
The findings primarily affect organizations across Europe that rely on multiple collaboration platforms, including email, cloud storage services, messaging applications, and conferencing tools.
The survey found that many companies use the same collaboration platforms for both internal and external communication without separating sensitive workloads. External partners often access information through email, file-sharing services, or messaging apps, while employees frequently turn to consumer applications such as WhatsApp or personal cloud storage when approved tools are slow, difficult to use, or unavailable.
This growing reliance on shadow IT increases the risk of unauthorized access, poor governance, and compliance challenges.
Why CISOs should care
The survey highlights that security confidence does not always reflect actual security maturity. Organizations may have strong policies and enterprise collaboration tools, but inconsistent governance and unmanaged shadow IT can undermine those investments.
As collaboration increasingly extends beyond organizational boundaries, CISOs must ensure that access controls, governance, and auditing apply equally to external users. Without consistent oversight, sensitive information can remain exposed long after collaboration has ended.
The findings also reinforce that secure collaboration depends not only on technology but on making secure workflows easy enough that employees do not seek alternative tools.
3 practical actions
- Audit collaboration platforms and regularly review who has access to sensitive files, especially external users.
- Reduce reliance on shadow IT by providing secure collaboration tools that are easy for employees and partners to use.
- Implement consistent governance, access reviews, and audit logging across all collaboration channels, including external workflows.
