3 Steps to Disabling Access from Microsoft Office to Dropbox with iOS 9

Cortado Mobile Solutions publishes a guide which easily shows companies how to close a major security gap

Cortado Mobile Solutions, developer of the enterprise mobility solution Cortado Corporate Server, has created a step-by-step guide showing companies how to block access from Microsoft Office to Dropbox with Apple’s improved iOS 9, thereby closing a major security loophole.

Microsoft Office is one of the most popular business apps for the iPhone and iPad, alongside Apple’s Keynote, Pages and Numbers. In its free version, Microsoft Office enables access to Dropbox. A significantcause of concern for many companies is that this access is not through the standard iOS interface, but via a prohibitive method. This has the disadvantage that access to Dropbox cannot be blocked by a mobile device management system, with the exception of Microsoft’s Intunes.

With iOS 9, Apple has improved its operating system to the point that with just a few simple steps, documents edited in Microsoft Office can no longer be accidentally transferred to Dropbox’s cloud. 

All that is required to block the cloud storage provider is a VPN. Even an OpenVPN can be used. The minimum requirement is simply that the native iOS VPN clients, for example IPSec, are supported. 

Also necessary is an enterprise mobility system or mobile device management system, like Cortado Corporate Server for example.Cortado Corporate Server is focused on the native management of apps and offers a highly productive alternative to Dropbox thanks to secure access to the corporate file server.

How exactly access to Dropbox is blocked is described step-by-step in the following white paper:

http://corporateserver.cortado.com/en-us/ResourcesSupport/ResourceCenter/WhitePapers/a-brief-guide-to-preventing-microsoft-office-from-accessing-dropbox-in-ios-9 

A fully functional demo version of the latest software is available at

corporateserver.cortado.com/CCS-7-4-trial 

Cortado Mobile Solutions

Cortado Mobile Solutions GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cortado AG, and is responsible for all operations relating to the enterprise mobility solutionCortado Corporate Server. The unique enterprise mobility solution offers the perfect balance between security for the organization, easy manageability for the IT department and maximum flexibility for users.

The on-premises software includes all the tools required for successful enterprise mobility; mobile device management, mobile application management and mobile content management, and can be fully integrated into the Windows backend. IT administrators continue to work with their known systems, Active Directory groups and Windows privileges, and users can access network drives, SharePoint and intranet pages directly from their mobile devices. 

Cortado Mobile Solutions follows the philosophy that working natively delivers the highest levels of user acceptance. So Cortado’s enterprise mobility solution fully supports native app management and instead of focusing on separate storage when it comes to file sharing, enables a direct connection to the corporate network. The result is a significant increase in productivity formobile employees, improved collaboration among teams as well as convenient management for the IT department. Cortado’s enterprise mobility solution is developed and tested at its headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Also experts in offices in the United States, UK, Australia, Japan, and Brazil, highly-qualified consultants at our Berlin location as well as a trained, worldwide network of channel partners provide presence and support to localcustomers throughout the world.

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