Box adds ransomware content security; Box Sign goes GA

Box Inc. has announced new integrations with Microsoft Office, Slack and Zoom in an effort to increase collaboration among users.

The Slack integration, planned for later this year, will enable Slack users to upload files to Box within the Slack interface as well as maintain Box content security protocols and user-set compliance rules. A Box app for Zoom, launched last month in the Zoom App Marketplace, cuts down on clicks for presenting Box files in Zoom meetings. It also enables users to browse, preview and share Box files directly from Zoom, whether the meeting is active or not.

For Box users whose organizations meet and collaborate with Teams and use Microsoft Office apps such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint, the latest integrations enable multi-person collaboration in Word online and desktop apps in Box files. For companies that use both Teams and Box — which Box claims is in the hundreds of thousands — the Box-Teams integration enables Box to be the default storage destination for content.

For users of the Box Shield content security add-on, Box released more content security features that include ransomware detection that quarantines files before they can shut down a Box user’s network. The Box Shield approach to content security is “ingenious,” said Deep Analysis founder Alan Pelz-Sharpe, because while a Box customer may have millions of documents spread among petabytes in its Box instance, Box Shield focuses on only the ones that are active at any given moment. Box’s security features and security certifications such FedRAMP High keep them ahead of many competitors, he said.

“Truthfully, that’s been their big differentiator,” Pelz-Sharpe said. “[Companies] that are in product selection mode who ask me about file-sharing systems, it’s just become rote to say, ‘Well, if you’re really, really concerned about compliance and security, you definitely should be looking at Box.'”

Box adds mobile document scanner