The Key Focus Should Be Equipping Teams To Deal With Remote Risk

A few years back, no one expected a global pandemic or the hybrid work model becoming the new normal. This resulted in many enterprises ending up being unprepared for cybersecurity challenges.

Cyberspace is filled with various threats that are lurking at the corners. From fraud to ransomware and data breaches – cyberattacks can be detrimental to a business both in terms of reputation and financially.

While individuals rely on more traditional measures, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), organisations should look at more sophisticated solutions, including email security, identity authentication, and document concierge services.

Paul Holland, the CEO and Founder of Beyond Encryption – a company that specialises in secure digital communications, agreed to share his views on cybersecurity and the best security measures for companies.

How has your company evolved?

From the start, we have always pushed ourselves to keep achieving bigger and better things. We have undergone significant changes, from partnering with industry giants Origo and Paragon Customer Communications to bringing leading brands like HSBC and Aegon into the Mailock network.

Our recent investment and endorsement from Westcoast also placed us in a prime position to take our business to the next level, releasing a new website and hiring talented individuals to grow our team further. The only thing that hasn’t changed is our core values and our mission to provide the highest level of security to our customers.

Could you introduce us to Mailock?

Mailock is our secure outbound email software, designed with simplicity at its center. Mailock provides the highest level of protection without compromising your workflow, offering military-grade encryption for your messages at the click of a button.

The solution also offers two-factor authentication to ensure emails are accessed by the correct recipient only, with a revoke feature to recall any messages or attachments sent in error.

What are the most serious issues that can arise if a company doesn't have secure comms systems in place?

Businesses that don’t secure their communications and leave personal information at risk face an elevated possibility of a data breach. Data breaches can harm a company in several different ways, including hefty financial loss through regulatory fines and operational downtime.

Business reputation is also placed in jeopardy, as consumers lose trust in an organisation's ability to protect their data.

How did the recent global events affect your field of work? How did you support your customers during this time?

The pandemic led to many businesses taking their services and comms online – something that had always been in future scope but was rolled out much quicker than we initially thought possible.

This degree of digital change left a lot of companies unprepared, with some taking advantage of this, causing incidents of cybercrime to rise. We saw a significant increase in businesses becoming aware of the need to protect their digital assets, with Mailock offering a convenient solution for their outbound email.

To ensure companies were set up and protected straight away, we gave new customers a free two-month subscription, offering dedicated support throughout the onboarding process.

In your opinion, what are the best practices companies can adopt nowadays to maintain secure remote operations?

Organisations should start by carrying out a risk analysis to inform their strategy and implementing policies that will ensure the decided approach is actioned.

The key focus should be adequately equipping teams to deal with remote risk. For example, issuing company equipment will allow you to secure devices appropriately and avoid the hidden risks of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) practices.

Regular and comprehensive training will give staff the awareness they need to tackle cybersecurity challenges. Lastly, don’t forget to prioritise employee wellbeing and a healthy work-life balance. Burnt-out staff are more likely to make mistakes at work that impact company security.

What are the main security risks of using traditional collaboration and messaging apps?

Long-standing communication channels such as email were never created to be secure, only convenient.

Sending out unprotected messages is the equivalent of popping a postcard in the mail: any sensitive information written within is open for unauthorised individuals to read. Inbound threats such as phishing emails involve cybercriminals actively pushing deceptive links or malware into your inbox.

Outbound threats include the interception of your message by third parties and the accidental delivery of an email to the wrong recipient. The risk of all of these is loss of confidential data, with significant ramifications for your business.

What kind of threats do you think enterprises and individuals should be ready for in the next few years?

As the world continues to increasingly rely on online services and communication, digital identity will become a vital aspect for individuals and institutions.

A large amount of personal data will be held and shared electronically, offering increased ease of use and accessibility for consumers and businesses alike.

However, cyber threats will become more advanced to match this, placing your identity, arguably your most vital possession, at risk. While we have touched on what it means for a business to experience a loss of personal data, it is equally traumatic for individuals, causing long-standing emotional, social, and financial issues.

More awareness needs to be generated to ensure everyone is up to date and vigilant of evolving threats online.

What advancements in the digital communication field do you hope to see in the near future?

Our mission has always been to protect businesses from cyber risk, strengthening connections within industries through secure and trusted interactions.

In the future, we would like to see organisations across all sectors align to safeguard their customers in the way they need and deserve, becoming part of a secure web that places reliable communication and consumer protection at its heart.

Share with us, what’s next for Beyond Encryption?

Through our close partnerships with industry leaders, we are in a unique position to enact widespread change.

The digital shift is here to stay, and everyone at Beyond Encryption is dedicated to ensuring businesses can embrace it in the safest way possible.

We have an exciting roadmap ahead that is heavily focused on solving the challenges of our core verticals, helping organisations to offer unparalleled levels of customer experience. We are incredibly excited about the next phase of the BE evolution and hope you will stay tuned to watch as this unfolds.

This article was originally published by Cybernews .com and has been republished here with permission.

Reviewed By:

Sabrina McClune, 19.06.24

Sam Kendall, 19.06.24