Executive Summary

Enterprise knowledge represents one of your organization’s most valuable assets—yet it’s also one of the most vulnerable. As companies increasingly rely on collaboration platforms like SharePoint and Confluence to manage their intellectual capital, they’re unknowingly exposing themselves to significant security risks that could cost millions in breaches, compliance failures, and lost competitive advantage.

With 72% of public PaaS databases lacking proper controls and threat actors causing more than 290 million data leaks in 2023, the time for complacency has passed. This article examines why traditional knowledge management approaches are failing and how modern solutions like eGain’s AI Knowledge Hub are transforming enterprise knowledge security.

The $31 Billion Problem: When Knowledge Becomes a Liability

Knowledge chaos costs organizations an estimated $31 billion annually, but the true price extends far beyond direct financial losses. Your enterprise knowledge—from customer data and proprietary processes to compliance documentation and strategic insights—forms the backbone of your competitive advantage. Yet most organizations are managing this critical asset with tools that weren’t designed for today’s security landscape.

Research shows that 82% of data breaches involve a human element, such as misconfiguring a database or making mistakes that allow criminals to access systems. When this human factor combines with the inherent vulnerabilities of traditional collaboration platforms, the result is a perfect storm of security risks.

The Security Vulnerabilities of SharePoint and Confluence

SharePoint: A Target for Active Exploitation

Recent events have highlighted just how vulnerable SharePoint installations can be. In July 2025, Microsoft disclosed active attacks against on-premises SharePoint servers exploiting critical vulnerabilities CVE-2025-49706 and CVE-2025-49704, with new variants CVE-2025-53770 and CVE-2025-53771 bypassing initial patches. These aren’t theoretical risks—they’re active threats being exploited in the wild.

The SharePoint vulnerability chain, known as “ToolShell,” demonstrates the cascading nature of enterprise knowledge security failures:

• Unauthenticated Access: The vulnerabilities allow unauthenticated threat actors to access functionality that’s normally restricted, enabling them to run arbitrary commands on vulnerable SharePoint instances
• Ransomware Deployment: Threat actors have been observed modifying Group Policy Objects to distribute Warlock ransomware in compromised environments
• Persistent Threats: Malware deployed via .dll payloads are particularly difficult to detect and can be used to obtain machine keys

Confluence: Ongoing Security Challenges

Confluence faces similar security challenges with regular vulnerability disclosures. Throughout 2025, Atlassian has released multiple security bulletins addressing high-severity vulnerabilities, including remote code execution risks. These recurring security issues highlight a fundamental problem: traditional collaboration platforms weren’t built with security as a core architectural principle.

The Root Causes: Why Traditional Platforms Fall Short

1. Data Sprawl and Loss of Control

Data sprawl refers to the dramatic proliferation of enterprise data across IT environments, leading to management challenges and security risks that make it increasingly difficult for IT and security teams to track, manage, and secure data. Traditional collaboration platforms often exacerbate this problem by:

• Creating multiple copies and versions across different storage systems
• Lacking centralized visibility into who accesses what information
• Operating in silos that prevent comprehensive security monitoring

2. Inadequate Access Controls

Without correct access control and user permission settings, attackers can exploit knowledge management systems to enumerate users—often the first step in sophisticated attacks that lead to privilege escalation. SharePoint and Confluence installations frequently suffer from:

• Over-permissioned user accounts
• Insufficient granularity in access controls
• Difficulty in managing permissions across large, complex environments

3. Architectural Limitations

Both SharePoint and Confluence were designed primarily for collaboration, not security. This results in:

• Application-layer vulnerabilities: While firewalls provide network-level defense, vulnerabilities in these platforms exist at the application layer where attackers with basic network access can exploit misconfigurations
• Patch management challenges: Organizations struggle to keep up with the constant stream of security updates
• Limited security features: Native security capabilities often fall short of enterprise requirements

4. Compliance and Governance Gaps

Stringent data privacy laws like GDPR require companies to know exactly where sensitive data lives and be able to retrieve it in a timely manner, with organizations facing costly fines for non-compliance. Traditional platforms make it difficult to:

• Track data lineage and access patterns
• Ensure consistent security policies across all content
• Provide audit trails for compliance reporting
• Respond to data subject requests within regulatory timeframes

The eGain Solution: Security-First Knowledge Management

eGain’s AI Knowledge Hub represents a paradigm shift in enterprise knowledge security, addressing the fundamental vulnerabilities that plague traditional collaboration platforms.

Advanced Compliance and Security Architecture

eGain Composer adheres to top-tier security and authentication standards, including OAuth 2.0, HTTPS, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and FedRAMP. This comprehensive security framework isn’t an afterthought—it’s built into the platform’s core architecture.

Trusted Knowledge™ Foundation

Unlike traditional platforms that treat all content equally, eGain’s Trusted Knowledge approach provides unified, correct, and compliant content that enables AI to deliver reliable, accurate answers. This means:

• Content integrity: Every piece of knowledge is validated and verified
• Compliance by design: Built-in controls ensure regulatory adherence
• Granular permissions: Knowledge presented to agents is dynamically personalized based on factors like role, region, and more, with multiskilled agents able to have multiple profiles and switch between them

AI-Powered Security and Governance

eGain’s AI Knowledge Hub embeds best practices in knowledge management and AI orchestration through the eGain AI Knowledge Method, focusing on discovering “the knowledge you need, not the knowledge you have”. This approach includes:

• Automated content lifecycle management: Granular API controls throughout the content management lifecycle—from authoring to deprecation
• Intelligent monitoring: Real-time detection of anomalies and potential security threats
• Automated compliance: AI-driven tools ensure content meets security and regulatory requirements

Breaking Down Silos While Maintaining Security

By 2025, Gartner predicts 100% of generative AI virtual customer assistant projects lacking integration to modern knowledge management systems will fail to meet their customer experience and operational cost-reduction goals. eGain addresses this by:

• Providing secure, unified access across all channels and touchpoints
• Pre-integrating with platforms like Microsoft Teams while maintaining enterprise-grade security
• Enabling federated search while preserving access controls

The Business Case: Why Security-First Knowledge Management Matters

Quantifiable Risk Reduction

A single data breach can cost an organization up to $3.86 million on average, or $148 for every stolen record containing confidential information. By implementing proper knowledge security:

• Reduce breach probability by eliminating common attack vectors
• Minimize potential damage through granular access controls
• Accelerate incident response with comprehensive audit trails

Operational Excellence

Organizations leveraging eGain’s AI Knowledge Hub report reduced Average Handle Time (AHT), improved First-Contact Resolution (FCR), and elevated customer experience metrics including CSAT and NPS. Security doesn’t come at the cost of efficiency—it enables it.

Competitive Advantage

In an era where over 60% of small businesses close within six months of a cyber attack, robust knowledge security isn’t just about protection—it’s about survival and competitive differentiation.

Implementation Best Practices

1. Assess Your Current Risk Profile

• Inventory all knowledge repositories across your organization
• Identify sensitive data and its current security posture
• Evaluate existing access controls and governance policies

2. Adopt a Zero-Trust Approach

• Implement least-privilege access principles
• Require authentication for all knowledge access
• Continuously verify and validate user permissions

3. Embrace Continuous Improvement

Security configurations should not be a “one-time” setup but should be validated periodically and after any system update, patch, or major change. Implement:

• Regular security audits
• Automated compliance monitoring
• Continuous threat detection and response

4. Invest in the Right Technology

Choose knowledge management solutions that:

• Prioritize security in their architecture
• Provide comprehensive compliance features
• Offer granular access controls and audit capabilities
• Support modern authentication and encryption standards

The Path Forward: From Vulnerability to Resilience

The security challenges facing enterprise knowledge management are real and growing. As businesses undergo radical digital transformation, they collect and generate immense volumes of data from heterogeneous sources, with rising remote work trends contributing to data sprawl through additional digital identities, personal devices, and collaboration software.

Traditional collaboration platforms like SharePoint and Confluence, while valuable for their collaboration features, simply weren’t designed to handle today’s security requirements. Their architectural limitations, combined with the complexity of modern enterprise environments, create unacceptable risks for organizations that depend on their knowledge assets.

eGain’s AI Knowledge Hub represents a new generation of knowledge management—one where security, compliance, and governance are foundational rather than bolted on. By adopting a security-first approach to knowledge management, organizations can:

• Transform knowledge from a liability into a strategic asset
• Reduce security risks while improving operational efficiency
• Ensure compliance with evolving regulatory requirements
• Build trust with customers, partners, and stakeholders

Conclusion: The Time for Action is Now

Enterprise knowledge security isn’t just an IT issue—it’s a business imperative that affects every aspect of your organization. The vulnerabilities in traditional collaboration platforms aren’t theoretical risks; they’re active threats being exploited today. The question isn’t whether your organization will face a knowledge security challenge, but when and how prepared you’ll be to handle it.

The choice is clear: continue relying on vulnerable collaboration platforms that put your enterprise knowledge at risk, or embrace modern, security-first solutions like eGain that protect your most valuable assets while enabling innovation and growth.

Your enterprise knowledge is too valuable to leave unprotected. The time to act is now, before your organization becomes another statistic in the growing list of knowledge security failures.

To learn more about how eGain can transform your enterprise knowledge security, visit www.egain.com or request a demonstration of the eGain AI Knowledge Hub.