You only have to read these names to know that e-mail and Internet security are under threat: Edward Snowden, Ashley Madison and Sony. Thanks to advances in technology, many of the digital tools used to communicate are no longer secure and this can have far reaching consequences.
Luke Fowler, CTO, DocQnet, a secure platform development company, says that while email remains a critical and viable business communications tool, it may no longer be the appropriate method to send anything classified or confidential: “The problem is that despite the very recent scandals, the issue of digital security is still not widely understood or acknowledged. It is thus understandable that the roles of secure digital collaboration and information delivery also remain unacknowledged.”
Fowler quotes EY’s Global Information Security Survey 2013, which states that only 30% of respondents rate privacy as their first or second priority in terms of investment, putting privacy tenth in the hierarchy of required information security investments. When in the harsh reality of today’s threats, privacy needs to rank higher.
This phenomenon has been fuelled by the rapid rate of technology development according to Fowler, most especially the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), which according to IDC will result in over 30 billion devices by 2020.
“The more devices we have, the more we will want to communicate and digital tools such as email will always be one of them. It is therefore imperative that companies become more familiar with concepts such as a digital vault, which offers secure digital collaboration and information delivery. Especially as technology continues to evolve and ironically make communication easier,” says Fowler.
In the EY Privacy Trends 2014 report privacy professionals; regulators and organisations are urged to work together to innovate new approaches that entrench privacy as a standard rather than an anomaly. “It says that the future will require a fundamental change by all stakeholders in how we view privacy and what we are willing to do to protect it, and I absolutely agree.”
One way that is gaining in popularity is the digital vault concept. This approach provides users with a secure alternative to emails and offers an instant delivery mechanism with military grade security. “The trick lies in a cloud digital Vault distribution solution that is architected with security in mind. This is especially relevant for large Corporations and Government departments where secure and confidential information needs to be shared and email can’t be used.”
According to Fowler, the future economy is undoubtedly digital, and security and privacy will continue to be critical issues: “There simply is no other effective and secure way to protect your information other than using a digital vault concept.”