Why do we need proper security?
Being in a digital ecosystem means increased access and, with it, increased risk. Having security in place protects sensitive information and ensures compliance.
Key Takeaways
- Security is not an option.
- Access control prevents internal leakages.
- Strong passwords protects your digital entries.
- Multi-factor authentication gives additional protection.
- Encryption safeguards data in motion and at rest.
- Audit logs increases accountability.
- Retention and deletion policies reduces risk exposure.
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What defines Security and how do they work?
#1 Access Control
The infrastructure is to ensure that only authorized people can access certain documents and data. This is to prevent internal leakage and minimize or eliminate the mishandling of sensitive information.
It reduces unauthorized changes, deletions and data theft. This would support compliance with laws and industrial standards.
#2 Strong passwords
Putting in strong passwords means using secure and hard to guess passwords that protect user accounts and systems. Weak passwords can lead to data breaches, especially in the digital space.
To ensure safety in the technology infrastructure, executives must ensure that a company’s password policy is in place. Mandatory password changes every 30-60 days could be beneficial for security purposes and to avoid predictable passwords. Passwords are not to be stored in Excel files or notebooks, and also not using the same passwords across systems.
#3 Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication is a second layer of security which can be applied after entering a password. This is where the user must verify identity using a code, app or fingerprint. This gives additional security against unauthorized access attempts, protects cloud systems, emails and the document repositories from being hacked.
If the executives can factor in MFA in all business-critical systems, there would be an improvement in the security of the technology infrastructure. You can also train staff on the use of authentication apps – Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator and ensure backup codes are secure. Executives have to ensure that everybody who is working in their digital ecosystems is a target and that they should not rely on SMS only authenticator. And also ensure MFA is not used on personal devices.
#4 Encryption
Encryption converts your data into unreadable code such that incase your data is intercepted, it cannot be understood. This protects your data during sharing and when at rest. This increases client confidentiality and regulatory compliance.
For encryption to work, the executives has to ensure all devices that store company data are encrypted this includes laptops, external drives and cloud storage. Email encryption for sensitive communication and encrypted document repositories with digitized files.
#5 Audit logs
Audit logs hold a record of who accessed what, when and the action that has been taken. This would help detect suspicious activity early. It also provides accountability across teams.
To increase security the executive have to ensure all document management and cloud systems have audit logging enabled and have someone to review the logs regularly for anomalies. And also alerts are set for unusual behaviour, example active downloading of documents. Logs and systems should be on different devices.
#6 Data retention and deletion policies
The longer documents are kept, the higher the probability of data breaches. Having data retention and deletion policies gives guidelines on how long documents can be kept and when they can be destroyed. This reduces risk exposure because less data stored means there is less liability. It also prevents hoarding of documents no longer required.
It also minimizes storage costs leading to an improvement in search. Having a retention policy in place and digitized documents having automated rules should be a priority for the executives
Conclusion
Thus, security is a crucial component in the technology infrastructure to ensure a flawless digitization process.