What can I do to make my team’s account even more secure?

We know how important security is to you and your company. That’s why Dropbox offers plenty of features to help keep your team’s Dropbox account safe.

12 minute read

Customize security to your team's needs

Dropbox is designed with safety features that keep your company’s data safe. If you’re a Dropbox admin, you can add and customize these features to fit your team’s security needs.

Built-in security

With so much work taking place online, we can understand how security is a top priority for companies. That’s why Dropbox works behind the scenes to protect your data, intellectual property, and IP address.

Here are some of the security features Dropbox team accounts offer:

Two-step verification
Single sign-on
Device approvals
Web session controls
Customizable settings for shared folder and links
Activity logs
IT processes including security information and event management (SIEM), identity management, and data loss prevention (DLP)

Learn more about these and other security features.

Protect your data

Interested in how you can keep your organization's data safe and secure your team’s activity?

User-managed sharing

Admins can give their users management abilities, too.

Users can set sharing permissions on user-managed folders and sometimes on team folders, depending on whether their team admin has allowed it.

Enterprise Data Protection (EDP) integration

As more and more people use their own devices for work, the risk of security breaches and leaks increases. Dropbox team accounts integrate with Windows 10 Enterprise Data Protection to make sure that files added to Dropbox accounts from EDP-enables machines are protected by default.

Fight ransomware

If for some reason you’ve been exposed to ransomware, files in your Dropbox account are protected. Dropbox team accounts let you restore previous versions of files, which means you can access versions of your stuff from before the attack.

Getting some extra help

As an admin, you might use other tools and software to help create a more robust and secure environment for your team.

If you already use third-party security software or apps, it may be one of the many security partners available for integration with Dropbox.

Want to see if your favorite app or software is included? Check out our app integration page.

Super secure sign-in

We know that keeping your data safe is critical, which is why we have two options for making sure sign-ins are secure.

Check out both options, and choose the best fit for your team. Keep in mind that these options are designed to be used separately, not combined.

Two-step verification

One great optional security measure is two-step verification. When it’s enabled, Dropbox requires a six-digit security code or key in addition to a password at sign-in. This gives all of your users an added layer of security.

Single sign-on (SSO)

Single sign-on (SSO) allows users to access Dropbox team accounts by signing into a central identity provider. If your company uses one, you can put the identity provider you already trust in charge of authentication.

It makes things easier and more secure for everyone, with one less unique password to remember.

If you set up SSO, some Dropbox security features (like two-step verification or self-serve password resets), will no longer be in effect.

This is because your identity provider is now handling all aspects of authentication. This lets you to add more layers of security through your identity provider.

Enterprise account security tools

If you’re the admin of an Enterprise account, Dropbox offers even more ways to keep all your data and your teams secure. Get to know some of the Enterprise-only security features that you can enable.

Remote wipe

If someone loses a device or leaves the company, admins can delete files and folders from mobile devices and computers once they come back online.

To remote wipe files from a team member’s device:

Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
Click on Admin Console in the left sidebar.
Click Members.
Click the name of the member whose files you want to remote wipe.
Under Devices, click the X next to the device you'd like to remove.
Check Delete files from [Organization name] Dropbox the next time this computer comes online.
Click Sign out.

Having trouble with remote wipe? View our guide to remote wiping devices for more help. You will also learn how to check the remote wipe status of team member files, or remove access to Dropbox Paper files.

Enterprise mobility management (EMM)

To combat the increased risks of security breaches posed by employees using their own smartphones, laptops, tablets, and more to access company systems, companies often adopt an EMM framework.

EMM refers to the systems that companies use—including software, people, and processes—to manage their data when employees use it across a wide range of mobile devices. With EMM, team admins can restrict mobile app usage to managed devices, gain visibility into app usage, and remote wipe lost or stolen devices.

To use this feature, admins need to engage with a third-party EMM provider to manage mobile device access at their company. Then, admins can turn on this feature in Dropbox by going to the admin console and accessing the Settings tab. Select Devices, then EMM.

Network control

Network control allows admins of Enterprise teams to manage which Dropbox accounts can be used on the corporate network. This is particularly useful when it comes to protecting company data.

Using your proxy or CASB vendor, you can specify which team member accounts can sign in and sync via dropbox.com or the Dropbox desktop app.

For example, if your company has a policy related to conducting personal activities during work, network control lets you block access to personal Dropbox accounts.

Web session control

Under Settings in the admin console, you can also find Web session control. Enabling this feature enables admins to:

terminate active browser sessions
unlink connected computers and mobile devices
revoke third-party app access for any team members via the admin console
set how long members can stay signed in to Dropbox

Managing web sessions can be particularly helpful if your company needs to limit web sessions for compliance. If users attempt to stay signed in longer than the set session, they’ll be automatically signed out.

Remote wipe

If someone loses a device or leaves the company, admins can delete files and folders from mobile devices and computers once they come back online.

To remote wipe files from a team member’s device:

Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
Click on Admin Console in the left sidebar.
Click Members.
Click the name of the member whose files you want to remote wipe.
Under Devices, click the X next to the device you'd like to remove.
Check Delete files from [Organization name] Dropbox the next time this computer comes online.
Click Sign out.

Enterprise mobility management (EMM)

To combat the increased risks of security breaches posed by employees using their own smartphones, laptops, tablets, and more to access company systems, companies often adopt an EMM framework.

Network control

Network control allows admins of Enterprise teams to manage which Dropbox accounts can be used on the corporate network. This is particularly useful when it comes to protecting company data.

Using your proxy or CASB vendor, you can specify which team member accounts can sign in and sync via dropbox.com or the Dropbox desktop app.

For example, if your company has a policy related to conducting personal activities during work, network control lets you block access to personal Dropbox accounts.

Web session control

Under Settings in the admin console, you can also find Web session control. Enabling this feature enables admins to:

terminate active browser sessions
unlink connected computers and mobile devices
revoke third-party app access for any team members via the admin console
set how long members can stay signed in to Dropbox

Remote wipe

If someone loses a device or leaves the company, admins can delete files and folders from mobile devices and computers once they come back online.

To remote wipe files from a team member’s device:

Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
Click on Admin Console in the left sidebar.
Click Members.
Click the name of the member whose files you want to remote wipe.
Under Devices, click the X next to the device you'd like to remove.
Check Delete files from [Organization name] Dropbox the next time this computer comes online.
Click Sign out.

Setting global permissions

Imagine that as the team’s admin, you’ve decided you want to block the sharing of files and folders outside of your team. Do you know how to do that?

Personal accounts stay personal

If any of your team members have linked their personal and work accounts, you won’t be able to see files or folders in their personal accounts, even though you’re the team admin.

So, if your team comes to you wondering if you’ve seen their personal accounts, you can reassure them you only have visibility and control over Dropbox team accounts.

Common questions about securing your Dropbox team account

Got a question about how to secure your team’s account? We’ve likely got an answer. If you have a question that’s not listed here, check out help.dropbox.com for more answers.

How do I set up SSO?

Before you enable SSO, you first need to go to your identity provider and follow their configuration instructions. Then, go to your admin console, select Settings, and select Single sign-on under Authentication settings. Select whether you want SSO to be optional or required, then follow the instructions.

How do I protect my Dropbox account?

There are plenty of ways you can further protect your account. In addition to changing passwords and setting up two-step verification, you can unlink devices, manage web sessions and apps, and you can remote wipe Dropbox from other devices.

How do I recover deleted files?

Dropbox makes recovering deleted files easy. Just sign in to the Dropbox website (dropbox.com) and select Deleted files. Find the file you want to recover, select its name, and click Restore.

Adjusting your security settings

Now that you know about the security settings you can put in place, try adjusting your own settings now.

Start at the admin console

As always, start at the admin console, then select Settings and scroll down to Authentication.