5 ways to share information securely
With the modern-day era advancing rapidly with time, we have witnessed evident and significant changes in technology. The methods adopted by companies when it comes to data storage and sharing have significantly evolved as well. A business’s data includes confidential documents such as a private company’s past performance, bank statements, tax relations, financial statements, and contracts. All these and similar documents are to be hidden from the public eye or irrelevant third parties. Such information must be protected and handled with care.
In this world of rapidly growing technology, it is essential to establish secure information sharing platforms or programs. Any mishandling could damage the company’s reputation or ability to stay in the market, thus increasing vulnerability to the overall state of the business. Most official communication is now done electronically, and most corporate documents are kept in digital form, whereas psychical data within offices still exist. Whether it is in the form of documents, hard disks, or logbooks, corporate data must be handled responsibly. The strict security measures taken to protect their digital data include passwords, firewalls, and several other protocols. It is equally important to evaluate and consider the best possible methods and procedures to ensure their data is secure. The transfer of data must not question the disposition of the business and should be done safely.
While most companies have been extremely vigilant with sharing information, they are at a constant risk of their privacy being breached. Online confidential information can easily be hacked during data transfer. It is important to note and assess suitable steps and procedures for your company to safely share data online and elsewhere. Here we have discussed methods you can apply if you consider sharing information securely.
1. Control Access
The digitally stored information may be the latest form of storage but is easily accessible in most cases if not protected. Firewalls, encryption, and passwords must be used to limit access to only those who need it. Regardless of the application you opt for, ensure it contains segregated access. Permission must be granted to the concerned parties to keep it out of public eye and interests. Sensitive information must only be shared with those who need to see it. Access should be removed immediately after the task is done to avoid private information to be circulating.
2. Threat Modeling
Threat modeling is a process by which potential threats and structural vulnerabilities or lack of necessary safeguards can be identified and dealt with. It is a procedure for optimizing network security. Where objectives are identified, and the countermeasures are taken to prevent or limit the effects of potential threats to the system. The entire purpose is to determine where more effort should be applied to ensure the system is secure. Any time your company experiences structural or major design changes and data needs to be shared, ensure you are using a threat modeling feature. This feature can allow you to identify new threats in your system.
3. Keep your policy loud and clear
Employees don’t often pay much heed to precautionary measures that must be taken to secure and share data safely. Strict, step-by-step guidelines must be given beforehand for each task. Clearly state the kind of information you are willing to share and the methods involved. Guidelines must be emailed or placed on notice boards. Choose software that allows the concerned party to fully comprehend what they need to do and what they are handling. This will eventually improve their understanding of sharing personal data and risks attached to it. Also, ensure that the receiving end is at ease when it comes to handling the application that contains your data. Various tools allow you to share information safely. However, many include extra actions and steps the recipient must go through before they can access the information or your message. Therefore ensure the process involved is not only safe but easy to operate and receive. This way, neither the receiver nor the employer gets distracted from the main focus of protecting data.
4. Encryption
Encryption is the process of encoding information safely and granting access to authorized parties only. The concerned party can only practice decoding. Therefore it is a safety measure. It is crucial to encrypt customer sensitive information and documents both online and in storage. Clients must be given the keys along with an emergency access vault backup system. This is to prevent employees or irrelevant agents from getting hold of sensitive customer data. By all means, your customer’s or stakeholder’s documents are protected even in the unfortunate case of data centers or applications being breached. File transfer encryption is a method that can be used digitally. This kind of encryption is achieved by scrambling and coding data into an unreadable, incomprehensive format. It is then decrypted and decoded back to an understandable form once it has reached its destination, which is the concerned party it was sent to. File encryption is mainly used for money transfers and can be found in wireless payment systems.
5. Delivery confidential documents
Stepping out from a digital point of view, bear in mind that even physical interference with private documents can be at risk. Storing documents may not be much of a hassle. However, when it comes to delivering such documents, it must be done carefully in a secure manner. You must use a trusted courier service, preferably if their terms state responsibility in case of any mishandlings. Courier services may still be risky. It is better to have the documents hand-delivered by an employee you trust within your organization. It is a good idea to educate your employees when it comes to protecting such confidential information and the adverse effects it may bring. Special training services could be provided that even include IT experts. Ideally, this will create a safer work environment.
When it comes to delivering digital documents, using secure file transfer software is one of your options. This option is highly secure because of its modern encryption technology, which involves enterprise-level security features. With enterprise-level protection, your digital files face fewer risks. Moreover, you can quickly connect to the web applications and external cloud you use daily. Automating file transfers replaces legacy scripts and manual processes, allowing you to deploy workflows and schedule file transfers quickly and securely.
Encrypted file-sharing services are also another way to deliver sensitive files. There are many dedicated file-sharing service providers that you can choose from, allowing you to set up a shared folder for external and internal recipients.
Cloud-based fax services are also popular. Faxes are treated as PDF or image files with cloud-based fax services. This technology transmits faxes over the internet or telephone lines based on the recipient and electronic documents. Moreover, encrypted emails are another option for a more secure digital content delivery.
Backup is crucial when transmitting or transferring sensitive documents regardless of the mode of delivery you choose. It’s a proactive approach to securing your sensitive data. You can scan or photocopy files, and save them on an external drive or your computer as a backup to preserve important information.
Final Word
While sharing your data, it is crucial that you assess the methods involved and then identify the best one for the type of information you are sharing. Whether you are physically or digitally handling private information, it is always best to have a rundown for all the possibilities that you may encounter when sharing confidential data.
