Does the subject of data security give you brain fog? You’re not alone. Organizations have a habit of overcomplicating data protection; it’s tied up with compliance, digital transformation and IT.
We believe security should be nothing less than spectacularly simple. So, here are five tips to streamline the way your organization shares sensitive data.
1: Make sure the policy is clear
What information do you need to send securely? Through which channel and with what level of security?
Employees want to do the right thing, but they need to be supported with clear guidance. So, to ensure all employees are singing from the same hymn sheet, provide a simple overview of the types of information that your organization handles, and identify the ways each should be shared. Make this plan accessible for all staff.
2: Secure your files and attachments
Enable staff to share files and attachments securely. Most email clients limit file sizes to 25MB. So, when it comes to sending large presentations or reports, this can cause some headaches. Third party file transfer platforms may not be as secure as you think and often people resort to less than secure platforms and processes to get data from point a to point b quickly.
Integrating file transfer into email is a secure and simple way of enabling users to send files safely. This also allows external stakeholders to share large files with you too. Simplify your tech stack and ensure employees have everything they need to communicate securely and effortlessly at their fingertips.
3: Fail to prepare and prepare to fail
Multi-factor authentication ensures only the intended recipient can gain access to sensitive data. With unique codes sent via SMS or a pre-agreed passwords, employees can share sensitive data with confidence that their data will only be accessed by the intended recipient.
To keep things simple in the future, it is helpful to gain the relevant information from recipients sooner rather than later - whether it’s a mobile number or an email address. You can then work with confidence that there will be no complications or delays when it matters most.
4: Make security the preferable option
Sometimes, you have to sell security to your recipient. They may not see the benefit or necessity of multi-factor authentication or security in general initially, but this often changes when you explain the benefits, as well as the risks and repercussions of, poor data protection practices.
Be clear to stakeholders that your organization takes security seriously and the measures in place to ensure their data in protected. They'll appreciate this in the long run!
5: Ensure you can act if something goes wrong
You can do a lot to prevent mistakes. Unfortunately, no organization can completely rule out a data breach. It’s important, therefore, that you can take immediate action if and when the worst happens.
For IT and security professionals, activity logs enable incident identification, providing a reliable overview of email activity. Ensure security processes and solutions are transparent, with proper reporting tools to support you in the event of a data leak and support compliance.
For all of the above and more, we can help. Get in touch with a product expert to find out how.
