April 12, 2022
Security professionals need to place efficiency as a top priority for security procedures and response protocols. To implement efficient and agile security, businesses need to invest in tools and technologies that aid in project management.
Streamlined and proactive project management tilts the odds of success in your security team’s favour, as time is of the essence when resolving security threats and preventing damage.
Are you curious to learn how you can streamline workflows and procedures for better business security?
Keep reading as we discuss the primary benefits of streamlining security, along with the benefits of implementing workflow management technologies for your physical and cyber security teams.
Streamlined business practices and processes afford greater transparency. With greater transparency, it’s much easier to:
All these benefits add up to cost efficiency when managing any enterprise.
Cybersecurity is one of the greatest security challenges if not the number one security challenge for businesses today thanks to the implementation of digital technology. An IBM study showed that in 2021, U.S. data breaches cost roughly $4.24 million. Digital work as well as remote work contributed to these statistics.
Data theft alone can inflict substantial financial damage and ruin a company’s reputation. All businesses are susceptible to cyber-attacks with humans being the weakest link in any security architecture. Security challenges can originate from multiple sources including:
The storage of data and sensitive information cannot be overstated, nor should it be underestimated. This can be crucial when managing data security together with privacy issues.
Most companies will employ some form of access management systems, AI automation, maintenance with updates and patches, MFA, video security management and other security technologies available to protect digital processes.
Workflow management software should incorporate numerous features which contribute to increased internal security through the use of:
The use of automation is increasingly crucial to business systems. Automated processes not only save precious time but also reduce the risk of human error. Automation also enables security experts to identify anomalous patterns, in fact, automated solutions are now a fundamental tool used in many aspects of contrasting cybercrime. The potential of threat identification through continuous automated scanning and pentesting has become as essential to technological advances as methods for thwarting ill-intentioned actors. Automated user provisioning tools serve as a main example of the benefits of the automation process by making sure that the proper access controls are in place from the start.
Workflow management software can be an invaluable tool for cooperation between company departments which will inevitably affect business performance. Here are several examples of how the use of workflow management software is beneficial to company performance and can aid in the response to specific security challenges.
Human resources departments are charged with transforming new professionals into top-performers in any business. When HR teams up with IT to use workflow management software, it’s simple to inform new entries of important business policies that will impact their professional lives as employees and their performance within the company such as scheduling, vacations, remote work, illnesses, and more.
Assigning tasks, checklists, communications, and info necessary to completing assignments and projects will all be found on a single platform including any necessary security considerations. Humans are potentially the weakest link in security practices; hence the availability of a security onboarding checklist can assist new hires in implementing a company’s security plan from day one on the job.
Human resources as well as department heads can also use workflow management software for access permissions. Not every department will require the same level of access to every company project or application. Workflow management software can add a layer of extra security to onboarding and to internal processes. Approval tasks can be established with single, multi-stage, or sequential authorisations if desired in order for employees to move ahead. This ensures not only performance levels but can be used to address any privacy and security issues that may arise.
Marketing departments and customer sales departments will be tasked with storing sensitive information, both personal and financial, manual, and automated. Data storage can involve hardware, devices, cloud-based storage and network storage through SAN and NAS systems. Secure data storage is essential to any company and can have financial implications as well as dire ramifications for a company’s reputation and future when breached.
One of the greatest vulnerabilities when storing sensitive data is a lack of encryption. This often will require companies to install specific encryption software or even an encryption appliance to ensure that sensitive information is encrypted when transmitted or stored.
The lack of encryption capabilities can create security liabilities for company IT teams especially when dealing with both marketing and sales departments within a company. These departments are most likely subject to substantial influxes of new data daily which can expose companies to cyber threats. Threats that may exist even when sensitive data is only transmitted within the confines of the company itself.
Your workflow system provides encryption for data whether it is being transmitted or at rest, so even if a company does have data encryption for storage purposes, the tool sees to it that data is encrypted during use within company processes.
Before the digital revolution, physical security teams needed to check for visitors wandering into off-limits areas, thanks to technology and tools, visitors have access where needed. Incorporating role-based permission access software allows you to collaborate with people outside the organisation thanks to the possibility of creating guest permissions that allow visitors only to view relevant tasks or checklists pertinent to their interaction with the company.
Most companies have two different departments when confronting cybersecurity and physical security needs. An increase in remote work due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the recent return to work in safety using technology, and the rapid information technology evolution have opened the door to an increase in breaches. Now daily security challenges and online company processes require the attention of both physical and cybersecurity teams to ensure the safety of employees, facilities, and clients.
Physical security traditionally manages access control, physical location monitoring and logistical security. Cyber security monitors password management and cybercrime. But the emerging dependence on IT and technological advancement, especially with cloud-based remotely managed systems mean that cyber security and physical security are intrinsically linked if not one and the same.
Access management through automated touchless access systems, smart locks, and video feed depend on technology security. Automated physical security systems can be targeted by hackers. Thus, strategies and best practices to protect spaces and IT systems require transparency and excellent communication internally within companies and workflow management software can be an important part of this.
Sensitive data storage is not the only type of cyber breach. The hacking of door locks, mobile devices, or video cams will place a company’s physical security at risk just as a lack of effective communication between departments can lead to misunderstandings and errors.
Security technology advances have contributed to the overlapping of security requirements and a need for increased integration of cybersecurity and physical security. The automation of security services together with the digital transformation of internal work processes require companies to converge the organisation of physical and cyber security. The benefits far outweigh any perceived differences. Your workflow solution can provide an excellent internal platform to contribute to productive and timely communication.
Remote work has challenged both cyber security and physical security. Many employees working remotely make common security errors including using easy-to-guess passwords, leaving devices unsecured and clicking on dubious links. Workflow management software aids security teams by unifying internal processes, and granting access, thus when necessary, protecting company projects and info. It also offers top management comprehensive oversight in real time so that anomalies are spotted and addressed quickly.
With a continually rapid technological evolution, it is often impossible to foresee all security necessities. Hence, all company systems must interconnect and perform effectively.
When addressing a business’s security needs, IT and physical security personnel must work closely to determine that company management systems not only function but help and support security necessities. The use of workflow management software can be a defining instrument in streamlining not only workflow but security efforts as well.
Cloud servers eliminate the need of physical space for on-premises collection and storage of sensitive data. Many workflow solutions are compatible with cloud services. Anomalies can be noticed faster, and consequently protective responses will not only be quicker but more efficacious.
Both digital and physical attacks can be a daily occurrence, thus the need for risk management is no longer limited to cloud-based door system technologies, such as keypad access control, or a specific software platform. Risk management must encompass all aspects of company activities. Workflow management addresses all company activities from a single platform.
Cyber security and physical security are now linked more than ever before. The introduction of best practices needs to include workflow management to facilitate the convergence of security strategies for the protection of your business, your physical facilities, your staff, and your customers.
You should look for workflow management software that is equipped with “Enterprise Class Security” that includes single sign-on multi-tiered accesses with data encryption not only for any transmission of information but also when the program is at rest.
Employees can only see what they need to. Top management can control who can read, edit, or execute workflows for an added layer of internal company security thus guaranteeing the protection of sensitive data not only from external threats but from internal bad actors or mishaps.
The role of workflow management software is valuable for any company’s organisational needs, but the support this product offers to today’s security challenges, makes it truly invaluable in an increasingly digital world.
