In the age of the ever-growing Internet, security has become everyone’s priority. Around 58% of companies affected by data breaches are small businesses, and that number only continues to rise as time goes on. It’s thus a given that you want some form of secure communication within your company.
When you rely on another platform of some sort, to make communication and collaboration easier for your team, you have to consider security – it’s no longer just an option. Your sensitive data needs to be protected, and it’s up to you to find the best platform for your team collaboration.
Must-Haves for Your Company’s Secure Communication Platform
Transferring all of your communication to an app or platform that supports messages and video conference calls is beneficial for your team’s collaboration because it ensures that everyone is on the same page and up to date on workplace happenings. However, with convenience comes risk. If the platform you’re considering doesn’t have the following traits, it’s time to look in another direction.
1. Data Control
With so many different companies having their sensitive information leaked, it makes sense for one of your highest priorities to be safeguarding your data. The perfect collaboration platform should offer you complete control over your information with little input from the host. Functions such as burn-on-read – which deletes your messages a certain time after they’re sent or opened – and screenshot detection are of immense help in protecting your sensitive data.
Finding the right app to allow you to control where your information goes and prevent it falling into the wrong hands is a must. Make your data a priority and consider who comes into contact with it.
2. End-to-End Encryption
Any platform that offers messaging for companies has to prove its trustworthiness. Encrypting messages is just another step in ensuring that your data remains your own, not the property of anybody who wants it. End-to-end encryption is crucial to your company’s success if you rely on a collaboration app, particularly as 88% of companies with over a million sensitive folders have around one-tenth of them open to everyone who stumbles across them. File security is important, so choose a platform that automatically encrypts your data as soon as you send it out to your team.
AWS Wickr stands out from the rest by offering forward and backward security, with the addition of calls that support up to 100 people while keeping your data secure and encrypted – always.
3. Cross-Communication and Device Compatibility
When your data and team are spread out over multiple means of communication, you need a single streamlined app to reach your whole team, plus clients and benefactors, at the click of a button. Platforms such as AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise allow your team to access its own network as well as jumping into others when needed, to communicate with valuable individuals and other companies. All users are linked through Wickr, and the end-to-end encryption never fails.
Similarly, if a matter needs urgent attention, you want your team to get to it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, issues do pop up outside of regular working hours. When that happens, what are you supposed to do? Some platforms offer impressive device compatibility – not only do they support an array of devices, but you will be able to access your account anywhere.
If you’re at home and something comes up, you won’t have to wait for the office to open; you’ll be able to access your account from a cell phone or personal computer. Having options like these is important in securing communication within your company because the sooner issues get dealt with, the better.
4. Compliance Capabilities
It should go without saying that the platform you choose to protect your company’s data should follow all applicable regulations. Compliance with global and industry regulations is crucial to any platform’s success and feeds into its level of reliability. Your team deserves nothing but the best – so find a platform that complies with the regulations and you’ll know you’re working with a trustworthy host.
5. Advanced Administrative Controls
As a network administrator, you want a degree of control over the platform that houses your sensitive information and realms of communication with your employees and colleagues. While privacy is important, you also need to rely on the platform you choose when it comes to protecting your data.
An array of administrative controls is an essential feature of a collaborative platform. When you’re in charge of ensuring that communication within your company is secure, you need an app with settings that back you up. Security should be just as important to the app as it is to you, so there needs to be no shortage of admin controls that allow you to decide who sees what and what information goes where.
Consumer-based apps don’t offer administrative controls. Plenty of apps do offer personal settings and customization options, but only a select few can give you the sort of administrator control you need to maximize your security.
6. Open Communication and Transparency with Users
As with all companies, issues can arise. If a company steps forward to admit its mistakes, as well as its plans to remedy the issues, you can believe that it is trustworthy. In fact, around 60% of consumers believe that admitting mistakes makes companies more transparent and therefore more trustworthy.
This is why Wickr trusts experts to check its code and security. Its messaging protocol is available for public view, showing exactly what you’re signing up for and who you’re trusting with your data security.
7. A Zero Trust Practice
If you haven’t heard of Zero Trust, your company probably isn’t as secure as you think. Not every employee is on the same playing field – and that’s absolutely fine – but there’s no point sharing data with employees who don’t need it or know what to do with it. Further, the more people with access to important, secret information, the more likely there is to be an issue. Almost one-third of data breaches (27%) were due to employee negligence or accidental leaking of information. Thus, practicing Zero Trust simply means divulging sensitive information on a “need-to-know” basis.
Wickr’s extensive administrative controls ensure that you can employ your Zero Trust strategy successfully. You can never be too safe when it comes to secure communication within your company. Choosing a platform that will back up your practices and allow you to carry them out is vital when deciding on your collaboration space.
Choosing the Right Platform for Secure Communication within Your Company
Security is essential to the lifespan and well-being of companies. The average cost of a data breach is around $3.9 million, a staggering figure. Many companies would be unable to recover quickly, if at all. With the number of cyber-attacks rising as time goes on, it is imperative that you find a platform that takes care of its users and makes a conscious effort to protect the data that has been entrusted to it.
AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise have all the factors you need in a team setting, including all the aforementioned traits and more. Your company could benefit from its highly collaborative dashboard feed, customizable settings, and ample administrative controls. Put your trust in the same platform that the U.S. Department of Defense utilizes and choose Wickr.
Download AWS Wickr to give your team the ultimate collaboration platform it’s been waiting for.