How To Integrate New Technologies Without Causing a Security Breach

CommandHound has worked with clients in a variety of industries who deal with sensitive information on a daily basis.

 
When Using External Apps, Security Is Key
From law firms that need to protect client information to auditors who have access to company financial information, CommandHound clients need to constantly maintain a solid security perimeter.
Recent news makes both companies and individuals nervous about data security and hackers. In a world where it seems like hackers have access to even the most secure information (just look at the news stories from the Equifax security breach a few weeks ago), individuals are less hesitant to trust companies with their information and companies are more worried about the stringent rules needed to upkeep complete data security.
This rising concern with security is coupled with another interesting trend in the workplace, where companies are increasingly using a variety of different software solutions to store and manage their data. These software solutions make organization much easier, but increase the number of providers and different levels of security that companies have to worry about.
So how do companies that use a variety of different software solutions to organize their sensitive information make sure that these new tools and technologies do not compromise their security perimeters?

Develop a Solid Security Maintenance System for Use of External Software

The only way that organizations are able to maintain security within all of their different software systems is by developing a security maintenance strategy for regularly checking in on their data that is stored externally. Teams that use external systems software systems for any type of internal communication, like Trello, Evernote or Slack, should consider developing some major parameters for the usage of these software systems.
These parameters should involve a set of easy to follow rules and requirements that all employees must stick to when using these external software systems. These rules should dictate what information is input into these systems and what information is left out in case of an eventual security breach. If one of these systems is hacked, the company’s most sensitive client information will not be available since it was never put into the tool in the first place.

Perform Regular Check-Ins

Going hand-in-hand with parameters of external software use should be a system of regular check-ins where team members verify that secure information is still secure and that software tools have not been compromised.
This system will make it so that on a weekly or monthly basis, a designated member of the team using the software or a member of the IT team will ensure that the company’s rules for protecting client information are being followed and that the software provider has not had any major breaches since the last check.
That said, managing a process of regular maintenance can be tedious and difficult to define. So how do companies make sure that these regular check-ins are actually completed on time and to their fullest extent?
CommandHound has worked with countless customers who are concerned about security. Team members who are required to perform regular safety maintenance can input their regular tasks into CommandHound and count on them to regularly send reminders until tasks are completed. Since these task are simply related to the regular check-ins necessary for security, they will never compromise sensitive client information.
If the person tasked with security compliance is shirking their duties or procrastinating, the tasks will escalate to managers who can verify that these security processes are fully completed on time. This level of accountability has served to protect countless CommandHound clients from delays on regular security maintenance.
Want to learn more about how CommandHound can help you protect your company from security breaches or keep team members accountable for their tasks?