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Choose a collaboration platform by starting with your identity, data, regulatory and threat requirements—not by counting chat or meeting features. Shortlist only services that can meet mandatory controls on an available plan, then configure a pilot tenant and test normal work and failure cases with representative users and devices.
Security is a system property. The platform’s controls matter, but so do identity policy, device posture, guest permissions, integrations, administrator practice, retention settings and user behavior.
1. Define what “secure” must mean for your team
A distributed team may connect from home networks, coworking spaces, personal phones, managed laptops and partner organizations. That variety changes the risk model: a stolen session cookie, an over-permissioned guest, an unmanaged device, a misrouted file or an administrator account can expose more than a single office workstation.
Start by documenting the environment the platform must support. Record the types of information people will share, who needs access, where users and partners are located, which devices are allowed, which identity provider is authoritative, and what laws or contracts apply. Include ordinary collaboration as well as exceptional events such as an employee departure, a lost phone, a legal hold or an account-recovery request.
#1 Best Overall
- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The YubiKey 5C NFC is the most versatile physical passkey, protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with popular accounts like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single YubiKey 5C NFC secures 100+ of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your YubiKey 5C NFC via USB and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC), to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required
- MOST SECURE PASSKEY: Supports FIDO2/WebAuthn, FIDO U2F, Yubico OTP, OATH-TOTP/HOTP, Smart card (PIV), and OpenPGP. That means it’s versatile, working almost anywhere you need it
- PRIMARY & SPARE KEYS: Just like having a spare house key, we recommend buying two YubiKeys - one for daily use and one as a spare. That way you’ll never get locked out of your accounts
Inventory data and users
- Data: public material, internal conversations, customer records, source code, health or financial information, credentials, recordings, transcripts and files.
- People: employees, contractors, guests, customers, suppliers and administrators, with their different trust levels and access periods.
- Locations: countries where people work, where data may be stored, and where support staff or subprocessors may process it.
- Devices and networks: managed desktops, mobile devices, browser sessions, personal equipment, VPN use and offline access.
- Obligations: retention schedules, deletion deadlines, legal holds, breach-notification terms, audit requirements and data-processing agreements.
Write threat scenarios before comparing products
Turn the inventory into scenarios with an owner and a desired outcome. Examples include: a departing employee must lose access immediately; a guest may enter one project but not discover other channels; a confidential file must not download to an unmanaged laptop; investigators must retrieve an audit trail without altering it; and a recovered account must not bypass multifactor authentication. These scenarios become acceptance tests later.
2. Build a requirements matrix that separates promises from proof
For every control, keep five separate fields: whether it is required, whether it is available on the proposed plan, whether it is configured, whether users have tested it, and who owns the evidence. Add the documentation or contract date so a future plan change does not silently invalidate the decision.
| Control area | Questions to answer | Evidence to request | Pilot test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity and administration | Does the service integrate with your identity provider? Are SSO, MFA, conditional access, lifecycle provisioning and privileged-role controls available? | Architecture and admin documentation, plan entitlement, configuration export and role list. | Sign in with SSO and MFA, change a user’s role, disable the account and verify session revocation. |
| External access | Can guests, federated users, anonymous meeting participants and external domains be restricted? What are the default privacy settings? | Guest and federation policy, domain-allow or deny controls, invitation logs. | Invite a guest to one workspace, attempt discovery of another, and test a blocked domain. |
| Devices | Can administrators distinguish managed, compliant and unmanaged devices? Can downloads, copy, print, offline access or browser sessions be limited? | Device-policy documentation, supported management platforms and user-experience limitations. | Open sensitive content from a compliant laptop, an unmanaged browser and a phone; record what each can do. |
| Encryption | What is encrypted in transit and at rest? Is end-to-end encryption (E2EE) available, for which communication types, and who controls keys? | Encryption architecture, key-management options, recovery process and feature exclusions. | Place a test call or meeting under each encryption mode and verify recording, search, DLP and moderation behavior. |
| Governance | Are DLP, labels, retention, deletion, legal hold, eDiscovery, audit events, alerting and exports available at the required tier? | Feature-to-plan matrix, retention semantics, sample audit events and export format. | Create a policy, trigger it with test data, place content on hold, search it and remove the hold. |
| Data location | Which data categories have selectable regions? Where are backups, telemetry, support data and subprocessors located? | Current regional architecture, subprocessor list, data-processing agreement and contractual commitments. | Confirm the tenant’s displayed region and trace a test export, support case and backup statement. |
| Integrations | What marketplace apps, bots, APIs and webhooks can read or write content? Are scopes and approvals granular? | Permission model, app-review workflow, API audit events and malware-scanning description. | Install a low-risk app, inspect scopes, revoke it and verify that tokens and events are visible. |
| Operations | Can the security team investigate incidents without excessive manual work? Is the interface accessible and reliable for the workforce? | Administration tasks, alert routing, status history, accessibility information and support terms. | Run an audit investigation, restore a user, process a support request and collect time and effort. |
3. Make identity and least privilege the first gate
For a distributed workforce, authentication is the boundary around every conversation, file and meeting. NIST’s Special Publication 1800-35, published in June 2025, describes zero trust as enabling authorized access to resources spread across on-premises and cloud environments for a hybrid workforce and partners “from anywhere, at any time, from any device.” The guide was developed with 24 collaborators and presents 19 example implementations; those figures describe the guide’s development, not the effectiveness of any particular collaboration product.
Required identity capabilities
- Single sign-on: Connect the service to the organization’s identity provider so joiner, mover and leaver processes have one authoritative source.
- Multifactor authentication: Require MFA for all users, with stronger methods for administrators and high-risk actions. Document emergency access accounts and their monitoring.
- Conditional access: Apply risk, device-compliance, location or network signals where the identity stack supports them. Define what happens when a device becomes noncompliant during an active session.
- Lifecycle automation: Provision groups and roles from authoritative records, remove access promptly, and revoke refresh tokens or sessions when an account is disabled.
- Privileged administration: Separate routine administration from security-sensitive roles, require MFA and approval for role elevation, and log every privileged action.
- Recovery: Test lost-device, lost-factor and compromised-account procedures. Recovery should not become an undocumented bypass around MFA.
Do not treat a platform’s SSO checkbox as proof of secure identity. Verify the exact protocol, group-mapping behavior, session lifetime, administrator isolation and deprovisioning delay in your tenant.
4. Evaluate external collaboration as an access-control problem
Distributed teams often need suppliers, clients and temporary specialists. The safest design makes external access narrow, visible and time-limited rather than disabling collaboration entirely.
Rank #2
- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The Security Key C NFC is the essential physical passkey for protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts.
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single Security Key C NFC secures 100 of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more.
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your Security Key C NFC via USB-C and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC) to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required.
- TRUSTED PASSKEY TECHNOLOGY: Uses the latest passkey standards (FIDO2/WebAuthn & FIDO U2F) but does not support One-Time Passwords. For complex needs, check out the YubiKey 5 Series.
- BUILT TO LAST: Made from tough, waterproof, and crush-resistant materials. Manufactured in Sweden and programmed in the USA with the highest security standards.
Questions to settle
- Can invitations be restricted to approved domains or to named administrators?
- Are guest users isolated by workspace, team or channel, and can they discover membership elsewhere?
- Can anonymous meeting entry be disabled or limited to specific events?
- Do privacy labels or templates set defaults for new workspaces?
- Can administrators block downloads, copy and offline caching on unmanaged devices?
- Are external shares, invitation changes and guest activity present in searchable audit logs?
Test both sides of every boundary. A policy that blocks a guest from opening a file may still allow a participant to copy its contents into a message or photograph the screen. Record those residual risks and decide whether a workflow change, data classification or separate channel is needed.
5. Understand encryption’s scope and its operational trade-offs
“Encrypted” is not a single protection level. Ask separately about transport encryption, server-side encryption at rest, customer-controlled keys and E2EE. Then map each mode to the functions your investigators and users need.
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With service-managed encryption, the provider manages keys and can process protected content for features such as indexing, search, data-loss prevention, eDiscovery, compliance monitoring, transcription or malware scanning. This model often provides the broadest governance and usability, but it requires trust in the provider’s key management, administrative controls and legal commitments.
End-to-end encryption
E2EE is meaningful only when the endpoints—not the service—hold the keys and the supported media remains unreadable to the provider. It is usually selective rather than universal. Confirm whether it applies to one-to-one calls, group meetings, messages, files, recordings, captions and screen sharing; whether external participants are allowed; and how key recovery works.
Microsoft’s Teams encryption guidance recommends default service-managed encryption with policy-governed E2EE for selected high-sensitivity use. The documentation states that eligible one-to-one VoIP calls and supported meetings can require E2EE, while PSTN calls are not covered; chat messages and shared files are also outside that E2EE scope. Protected media can lose service-side processing needed for indexing, DLP, eDiscovery and monitoring. Treat that as a governance decision, not simply a stronger setting.
Rank #3
- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The YubiKey 5 NFC is the most versatile physical passkey, protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with popular accounts like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single YubiKey 5 NFC secures 100+ of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your YubiKey 5 NFC via USB and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC), to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required
- MOST SECURE PASSKEY: Supports FIDO2/WebAuthn, FIDO U2F, Yubico OTP, OATH-TOTP/HOTP, Smart card (PIV), and OpenPGP. That means it’s versatile, working almost anywhere you need it
- PRIMARY & SPARE KEYS: Just like having a spare house key, we recommend buying two YubiKeys - one for daily use and one as a spare. That way you’ll never get locked out of your accounts
Key-management questions
- Can the customer supply or control keys, and can access be revoked independently?
- What happens if a key is rotated, lost or placed under legal hold?
- Which metadata remains visible even when content is encrypted?
- Can the organization prove which mode protected a particular call, file or message?
6. Compare governance controls, not just encryption labels
Most investigations depend on administrative evidence and lifecycle controls. Compare these functions at the exact plan you would purchase:
- Data-loss prevention: detection rules, actions, exceptions, user coaching and alert routing.
- Sensitivity labels: whether labels can set privacy, guest sharing, download or device restrictions and whether users can change them.
- Retention and deletion: separate schedules for messages, files, recordings, transcripts and audit data; treatment of user-held copies and backups.
- Legal hold and eDiscovery: preservation scope, search fidelity, export format, chain of custody and administrator permissions.
- Audit and alerting: sign-ins, invitations, file access, policy changes, app installation, token use and administrator actions; retention period and API access.
- Communication compliance: review queues, sampling, privacy controls and escalation workflow where regulated communications require supervision.
Microsoft documents Teams integration with Microsoft Purview for DLP, retention, eDiscovery and legal hold, communication compliance and audit-log search. Its documentation also describes sensitivity labels that can regulate team privacy, guest or external sharing and access from unmanaged devices. Availability depends on the Microsoft 365 subscription and any associated standalone licenses, so request a written control-to-plan matrix rather than relying on a product name.
Slack’s security documentation describes SSO, domain claiming, enterprise mobility management, encryption in transit and at rest, Enterprise Key Management, audit logs, native and third-party DLP, retention policies, legal holds and eDiscovery. Confirm which of those controls are included in the proposed plan and which require separate products or configuration.
7. Verify residency, processing and contractual coverage
A region selector is not a promise that every byte stays in that region. Break the requirement into content, metadata, backups, support access, telemetry, disaster recovery and subprocessors. Ask whether the commitment is technical, contractual or both, and whether it covers the geography of every affected person.
Microsoft says Teams data resides in the geographic region associated with the organization’s Microsoft 365 or Office 365 organization and that tenant data location is visible in the admin center. That statement does not by itself establish where support data, diagnostics, backups or every integration payload is processed.
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- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The Security Key NFC is the essential physical passkey for protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts.
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single Security Key NFC secures 100 of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more.
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your Security Key NFC via USB-A and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC) to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required.
- TRUSTED PASSKEY TECHNOLOGY: Uses the latest passkey standards (FIDO2/WebAuthn & FIDO U2F) but does not support One-Time Passwords. For complex needs, check out the YubiKey 5 Series.
- BUILT TO LAST: Made from tough, waterproof, and crush-resistant materials. Manufactured in Sweden and programmed in the USA with the highest security standards.
Slack states that customers can choose a country or region for encrypted data at rest. Verify the exact data categories covered, how keys and backups are handled, and the contractual language for transfers and support. Treat Microsoft’s regional tenancy statement and Slack’s encrypted-at-rest residency choice as different guarantees, not interchangeable certifications.
Procurement evidence
- Current data-processing agreement and subprocessor list.
- Breach-notification timing and incident-cooperation terms.
- Audit reports or certifications, including scope, covered service, period and expiry.
- Independent penetration-test summaries and vulnerability-disclosure process.
- Deletion and export commitments when the contract ends.
8. Control endpoint, app and integration exposure
Every desktop client, mobile app, browser session, bot, webhook and API token expands the attack surface. Assess whether your endpoint-management tools can enforce screen-lock, encryption, remote wipe, copy restrictions and version updates. Check whether the platform supports a read-only browser mode or blocks downloads when a device is unmanaged.
Review the app marketplace as a supply chain. Require administrator approval, least-privilege scopes, publisher identity, token expiration, event logging and a way to revoke access quickly. A third-party integration that can read every channel may defeat otherwise careful channel permissions. Include malware scanning for uploaded files and define who investigates suspicious content.
9. Use vendor examples without treating documentation as a security audit
| Documented area | Microsoft Teams / Microsoft 365 | Slack | What the buyer must verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | Microsoft documents organization-wide and team-wide two-factor authentication and single sign-on through Microsoft Entra ID. | Slack documents SSO and domain claiming. | Protocol details, MFA enforcement, lifecycle automation, privileged roles and recovery behavior. |
| Encryption | Encryption in transit and at rest; selective E2EE for eligible VoIP calls and supported meetings. | Encryption in transit and at rest; Enterprise Key Management is documented. | Content types covered, key custody, exclusions and effect on governance tools. |
| Governance | Purview capabilities include DLP, retention, eDiscovery/legal hold, communication compliance and audit search; sensitivity labels can control privacy and external access. | Audit logs, native and third-party DLP, retention, legal holds and eDiscovery are documented. | Plan entitlements, retention semantics, exportability and administrator workload. |
| Data location | Tenant data location is associated with the Microsoft 365 organization’s geographic region and is visible in the admin center. | Customers can choose a country or region for encrypted data at rest. | Coverage of metadata, backups, support, telemetry, subprocessors and contract terms. |
These are vendor-documented capabilities, not independent proof that a tenant is correctly configured or compliant for your use case. The reviewed material does not establish a common independent security test comparing the services under matching configurations, so there is no evidence-based universal winner.
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10. Run a pilot that includes failure cases
Create a separate pilot tenant or isolated workspaces. Use synthetic information that resembles real sensitivity levels, and recruit users from different roles, locations, devices and accessibility needs.
Best Value
- FIDO2 & Passkey Ready: Business-ready and FIDO2 L1 certified. This key is supported by major management suites and is ideal for both individual and enterprise deployment. Works seamlessly with Gmail, Facebook, GitHub, Dropbox, Coinbase, and more.
- Universal Connectivity (USB-A ): Features a built-in USB-A connector—simply unfold the key and plug it into your compatible PC or laptop for seamless authentication on the go.
- Dedicated Manager App: Use the Thetis Manager App for the initial hardware PIN setup. Setting the PIN on the device first ensures a smooth registration process. Once the PIN is configured, you can begin registering the key across your favorite FIDO2-compatible online services.
- Ultra-Durable & Portable: Featuring a rotating metal cover, this key is water, crush, and tamper-resistant. It fits easily on a keychain and requires no batteries or network connectivity.
- Check FIDO2 compatibility before purchase - Known limitations: ID Austria is not supported (requires FIDO2 Level 2). Windows Hello login only works with Windows Enterprise editions that support Entra ID, and NFC is NOT supported.
- Configure identity: connect SSO, enforce MFA, map groups, assign least-privilege administrator roles and document emergency access.
- Set baseline sharing: disable anonymous entry where possible, restrict external domains, define guest defaults and apply privacy or sensitivity templates.
- Apply device policies: enroll a managed laptop and phone, then test an unmanaged browser and personal device. Record download, copy, print, offline and screenshot behavior.
- Exercise encryption modes: place a normal meeting and a high-sensitivity call under the intended policies. Test recording, captions, transcription, search, DLP alerts, moderation and external attendance.
- Test governance: create a retention rule, trigger DLP with synthetic sensitive data, review the alert, place a conversation and file on legal hold, search them and export evidence.
- Test departure: disable a user in the identity provider, measure session and token revocation, transfer ownership, preserve required content and confirm that guests cannot inherit access.
- Test loss and compromise: wipe or revoke a mobile device, reset a factor, rotate an administrator credential and verify alerts and audit events.
- Test integrations: approve an app with narrow scopes, inspect its events, revoke it and confirm that cached tokens no longer work.
- Measure operations: record setup time, policy-authoring effort, alert noise, investigation steps, support response and user friction. Include accessibility and low-bandwidth conditions.
- Record exceptions: for every failed test, name the owner, compensating control, deadline and residual risk. Do not mark the platform acceptable until a decision-maker accepts any remaining exception.
11. Compare total cost and operational burden
Security features are useful only if the organization can administer and afford them. Price the required plan, identity and device-management dependencies, compliance add-ons, storage, archiving, migration, training, support and the staff time needed for investigations and access reviews. A cheaper base subscription may cost more once DLP, retention or E2EE prerequisites are added.
Estimate recurring work: reviewing guest access, approving applications, tuning DLP, processing legal holds, rotating keys, responding to alerts, exporting records and updating policies when the vendor changes a plan. Include migration effort and the cost of a failure, such as discovering that historical messages cannot be exported in a usable format.
12. Make the decision and keep it reviewable
Eliminate any option that fails a mandatory requirement on an available, supportable plan. For the remaining candidates, score evidence—not marketing language—against your matrix. A practical decision record contains:
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- the exact plan, licenses, regions and configurations evaluated;
- pilot results for normal and failure workflows;
- owners for identity, device, data-governance, integration and incident-response controls;
- accepted exceptions with expiry dates and compensating measures;
- links to current documentation, contracts, audit reports and configuration evidence;
- a review cadence tied to plan changes, major feature releases, incidents and regulatory updates.
Recheck entitlements, encryption modes, residency language, certifications and vendor terms before signing and at scheduled reviews. Documentation and plan boundaries change, while a distributed team’s users, devices and partners change even faster.
Optional MFA hardware
A FIDO2 hardware security key can strengthen workforce MFA, especially for administrators and users exposed to phishing. Treat it as an identity-control component, not as a complete platform-security solution. The sources reviewed do not establish a particular key model or compatibility with a specific identity provider, so verify supported protocols, enrollment, recovery, device-management and replacement procedures in your own environment.
Quick Recap
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