In early March Google announced some exciting new updates to their Drive product line at the Google Cloud Next ’17 conference. Specifically, Team Drives!

I have been a huge advocate of Google Drive for years. It has been my go-to file storage recommendation for a number of reasons. Now with the addition of Team Drives, Google is edging its way into the enterprise file sharing market, which has been traditionally dominated by Microsoft.

Team drives work very similar to shared folders in Drive, but with some distinct advantages. Particularly, files inside of a Team Drive are not owned by any one individual. This has been a longstanding issue with managing files in Drive, especially when staff members depart an organization. Ensuring that those documents are retained and in the correct places was a challenge.

Another big advantage of team drives over shared folders is that domain admins can view all team drives through the GSuite admin console, and control permissions from there as well. This allows a new layer of manageability that was not available with shared folders.

Finally, the pièce de ré·sis·tance is the addition of a new tool called Drive File Stream. This allows you to mount Google Drive like a network drive. For those of us who have grown accustomed to working in mounted network drives over the years, this is HUGE! No longer do you need Google Drive to sync down gigabytes worth of files, chewing up precious space on your speedy SSD. Now you can mount a G:\ drive on your PC or have a similar network-mounted file system on your Mac. Working offline? No problem. Drive File Stream allows you to make files available offline too!

Will Google’s new addition of Team Drives and Drive File Stream be the final nail in the coffin of dusty old file servers lurking in broom closets?

No, we’re not talking about the dance; we’re talking about authentication! Much like the dance, two-step authentication is something that everyone should know how to do. Wikipedia defines two-step or two-factor authentication as “a method of confirming a user’s claimed identity by utilizing a combination of two different components. Two-factor authentication is a type of multi-factor authentication.”

So what does all this mumbo-jumbo mean? It means that in order to access your account, you would need to meet at least two requirements – something you know (your username and password), and something you have (a generated code from your mobile device). This is not a new concept by any means. Think of getting cash from an ATM machine. Not only do you need to have your ATM card (something you have), but you also have to know your PIN (something you know).

In most cases, the two-factor authentication process works something like this:
Enter Username & Password > Random Code Sent to your Mobile Device > Enter Random Code

This means that would-be hackers would not only have to know your username and password, but they would also have to be physically in possession of your mobile device before they could gain access to your account. To make the legitimate user experience more convenient, you are sometimes offered the option to “Remember this device for XX days.” This will allow you to continue to log in from that specific device using only username and password. Login attempts from any new devices would still be prompted for the second step of authentication.

Obviously working in the IT field we have credentials to a number of accounts, most of which have elevated access. Properly securing these accounts with two-factor authentication is paramount to the security and integrity of our operation. To make this process easier, many of us use an app to manage the random code generation (rather than waiting for an SMS text message). My tool of choice has been Google Authenticator. The video below does a great job of summarizing two-factor authentication as well as the Google Authenticator app.

Curious if a particular website or application supports two-factor authentication? Check out twofactorauth.org.

There are a handful of tools that I use every single day, and would consider essential to my daily operation. One of those tools is without a doubt LastPass.

I have been using LastPass since 2012, and will continue to be a faithful user for the foreseeable future. At the time, LastPass Enterprise was the only tool out there that would allow shared folders for storing passwords. This was the single biggest selling point for me since I needed a secure tool to keep device passwords synchronized between myself and my team. Prior to adopting LastPass I was using an encrypted text file called LockNote, which had worked quite well as an individual solution. Its beauty was in its simplicity, but it lacked the sharing capabilities I needed.

After a brief trial run with the free version of LastPass I immediately ponied up for Enterprise so we could begin using shared folders. The payoff was immediate and I don’t bat an eye paying for this service now. I even have a Premium account for my personal use, which allows me to create a shared folder with my wife as well. Both the Premium and Enterprise accounts allow use of the LastPass mobile app, which is quite useful.

LastPass has benefits beyond traditional password management as well. I use it as a secure vault for storing any sensitive information. It is a great way to document software licensing, credit card and banking information, membership numbers, lock combinations, or anything else you can think of.

Everyone should be using a password manager of some variety or another. Having unique, complicated passwords for every service is crucial. Maintaining that level of discipline with passwords inarguably requires a password manager.