Collaboration and communication are critical parts of daily business operations. There are dozens of tools through which employees communicate internally with their teams. This workplace communication contains precious company data, which, if it goes into the hands of the wrong person, can cause serious damage.
Internal data breaches have become more common than you think. If tech giants like Facebook, Adobe, and Yahoo can experience them, so can your business. Naturally, ensuring the security of your internal communications is critical. Secure Internal Communication (SIC) is an approach that protects the integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of the information exchanged within a company’s network. Let’s find out more about SIC below.
What is Secure Internal Communication?
Secure internal communication includes methods, tools, and technology that facilitate seamless communication within the workplace while shielding it from cybersecurity risks. One of the most important ways by which internal information is made secure is through encryption. Other measures include identity verification of communicating parties and detection and prevention of unauthorized access to business communication channels.
Secure internal communication is necessary for the following:
- Facilitate consistent and open staff communication.
- Boost productivity with quick and effective information exchange.
- Enhance employee engagement with clear and timely communication.
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Why is Secure Internal Communication Important?
Security of internal business communication is paramount in today’s digital age. Its disruption can expose both your business’s as well as your customers’ sensitive data. This destroys the company’s reputation, which often takes decades to build in a matter of a few moments. Here are some major reasons that outline the importance of secure internal communication.
1. Unauthorized Use of Business and Customer Data
Any breach of the internal communication of a business can transfer its data to the hands of the wrong person. Cybercriminals use this information for their malicious motives, causing catastrophic losses to the company and the customers.
2. Loss of Company Reputation
Data breaches can erase the trust of the employees, customers, stakeholders, and partners in a business. Once eroded, this trust cannot come back with a simple ‘sorry.’
3. Legal Penalties
Today, it has become mandatory for every business to adhere to data protection and privacy regulations. Data breaches, as a result of disruption in internal communication, cause unauthorised exposure of confidential data. This causes the business to face heavy legal and regulatory non-compliance penalties.
4. Financial Losses
Financial losses are a painful and indirect consequence of data breaches. These include loss of revenue, business, and customers to a business that has faced the security incident.
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Best Practices to Ensure Secure Internal Communication
As you can make out by now, damage to secure internal communication can prove ruinous. Here are some effective ways to safeguard it.
1. Use an Enterprise-Grade Internal Communication Tool
To secure your business communication, it is critical to choose the right internal communication tool. The platform you select must have robust security features, such as multi-factor authentication and end-to-end encryption. These safeguards will enhance your security posture. In other words, the platform should help streamline and protect your business data. Never make the mistake of picking a consumer communication tool that is designed to gather and collect data. Some other features to look out for in the communication tool include support for Google authentication, compliance with data protection policies, and enterprise-grade cloud servers.
2. Design an Internal Communication Policy and Review It Periodically
Given the critical role of your internal communication, you must have certain guidelines so they prove effective in safeguarding your data. Ideally, the policy should include the kind of messages that you will share, the employees with whom they will be shared, the communication channels used, and when and how often will you share the information.
The internal communication policy should provide guidance on everything from the tone of your messaging to the steps that the business will take to ensure continuity in case of a crisis. The policy should also include what is and isn’t acceptable when exchanging data related to the company.
Additionally, it is also important to enforce the policy effectively. It ensures that all employees are following the guidelines created to keep business communication safe. Finally, review the policy periodically. During the reassessment, find which areas need adjustments. You should also take this time to learn how strong is your company’s defences against data breaches.
3. Use VPN to Connect Workplace Networks from Outside the Organization Securely
VPN, or virtual private network, is essential to ensure the security of the connection when computers and an office network are using an unsecured network. It is especially important for a company with a remote workforce. Company resources accessed by employees over their home Wi-Fi or public network expose the data to external attacks.
When using public Wi-Fi, data from an employee’s computer passes through a connection to which various other users are also connected. If an attacker plants a ‘man in the middle’ connection, the company data will pass through the attacker first without any filters. After that, it will go to your ISP and then to your company’s ISP. In the end, it will be transferred to the business network. By the time it reaches there, the information will already be severely contaminated.
VPN creates a secure connection between remote devices and on-premise servers. It encrypts the online activities of the employees, which includes access to company data. Even if an attacker tries to get their hands on the data, they will be unable to make sense of it since the VPN has encrypted it. Thus, all business information remains secure and protected.
4. Periodic Password Updates
Periodic password updates ensure the integrity and confidentiality of current passwords. All employees should be asked to create strong passwords and update them regularly. They should refrain from sharing or reusing them across several accounts. On their part, businesses should implement password expiration and rotation policies. They should also enforce clear password complexity requirements. It is also crucial to protect passwords through two-factor or multi-factor authentication.
Summing Up
Secure internal communication is necessary for overall business success. It helps an organisation win the trust of its customers while enhancing employee productivity. The consequences of not securing this communication can be catastrophic. Fortunately, by designing a robust SIC policy, you can safeguard your business from cyberattacks while ensuring seamless business continuity.
