We are living in a day and age where technology is rapidly developing. Whether it be Google's Bard or OpenAI's ChatGPT, we are outdoing ourselves. But with all developments aside, there are two major concerns. Privacy and Compliance. We'll talk about this while we go over a few questions - What exactly is compliance, and why do we need it? What might we need as two communication mediums in an organization? What is email encryption, and how is it related to privacy? What is a private cloud, and how does it help? In the subsequent sections, we're going to discuss these and provide you with a full-proof solution too. So, let's begin answering and simplifying these intriguing concepts. What is compliance?
In one line - it’s a set of rules and regulations. Let’s understand it better with use cases. What do banks, airlines, emergency services, and healthcare have in common? Any irregularities could be catastrophic. And the margin of error is slim to none. These are assets that need maximum external and internal protection. Now let’s talk about its relevance to cybersecurity.
Like it or not, in the 21st century, cyber warfare is rampant. And if a county is to be targeted, these are the assets that would be attacked first. A successful cybersecurity attack on them could crumble a country. This is where we are introduced to regulated industries. They form the backbone of the government and economy. Cybersecurity compliance is to be strictly followed by them. It prohibits and limits the use of some products and services. Let’s take a couple of instances. The data of these industries cannot be stored in the public cloud. A private cloud must always be used for adequate data protection. The communication systems that are used have very specific regulations too. They cannot use informal channels to communicate. In 2021, JPMorgan Securities paid a total of $200 million in fines to the SEC and the CFTC.
This was because employees were using WhatsApp and personal emails for business communications. (READ MORE)
As you can see, these regulations are enforced by government agencies.
With the aim of protecting the most important assets of the nation. Now let's talk about emails and how they are protected. Because that's the most common medium of communication. What is email encryption?
Emails are meant to be private. It’s a form of communication between the sender(s) and the recipient(s) Despite being password protected, your emails can still be read and accessed. Since they are not encrypted once they read their destination. This is where email encryption comes in. It protects the content from being read by anyone other than the intended recipients. How? It uses complex mathematical algorithms to scramble the data, which is called encryption. That data can only be unscrambled by the recipient who has the key. This method of converting the data back into its original form is decryption. Anyone else who tries to read the email by any other means will only see gibberish. This is oversimplified, and you can read more details about encryption HERE. Not even the service provider will be able to read the emails or their content. This ensures true privacy and security. However, one more aspect of privacy is data storage, and that's where we come across the concept of private cloud storage. What is a private cloud?
Firstly, let’s quickly go over what cloud is. You’re using it every day. The cloud is essentially a wide and vast network of remote servers. They are connected together to act as a single ecosystem. The servers are designed to stream videos, host websites, store data and run applications, amongst other uses. So why would you need it? To access it anywhere and anytime. Without accessing data from your personal device. If you have an internet connection, you’ll be able to access this data through the cloud. The public cloud offers its resources to the public through the internet. This website is also hosted on the public cloud, so you’d be able to access it.
The public cloud is definitely safe for you to proceed with in most cases.
But for critical communications, you should use a private cloud.
Why so?
Lesser Security in Public Cloud Multiple users sharing a server environment may allow the other user or hacker to view all the data or perform identity theft.
Data Ownership Data is processed and stored by a third-party operator, which may be against the compliance policies.
Meanwhile, private clouds are totally under your control. As the cloud environment is dedicated to a single organization. They offer their services over a private network. For example, Bank of America has its data and services available only to its employees for access. These private clouds usually have their servers hosted on-premises. So instead of having a network spread out in different locations. They would have an area dedicated to these physical servers. This increases data security by manifold amounts since it can also be further encrypted if needed. An added advantage comes in when we talk about regulations. As we mentioned, they have restrictions over the products they use.
So, the private cloud can be configured to use software and systems which are compliant. Private cloud and email encryption form the perfect privacy duo. Now, what if an organization wants to keep only its top conversations highly protected? Why would you need two systems of communication? All data and communication that flow in an organization are private. But not everything is critical. The email of a CEO to the CFO is different from two freshers sharing a meeting invite. The former may contain confidential information. So, can you really depend entirely on one mode of communication? As you have heard in our previous blog post, emails are not as private as you think. The major email providers do not encrypt the data in your emails. So, theoretically, it can be read. If that’s not scary enough, email contents were scanned to show targeted ADs to users. The conversations between the top executives or external partners are classified. So, having them protected is necessary. That’s where the need for two discrete communication systems arises. It facilitates both systems to operate simultaneously. One of them could be hosted on the public cloud. This comes in handy as there is no need to have any special infrastructure for everyone. The non-critical communications can be done through this medium. This is useful when you only want certain communications to be encrypted. And it’s not a regulatory requirement for the entire organization. It’s much more convenient and cost-efficient too. Meanwhile, they could have a discrete secondary system. This would use email encryption and private cloud services. Ensuring enhanced privacy and data security. Apart from encrypted communication between major stakeholders. We have spoken about problems and concepts, so let's jump to some actionable solutions. How to tackle all these issues? There were quite a few concepts we covered. Seems like a little too much work to get all of these done, right? Thankfully, you have to look no further. MailSPEC has the expertise, tools, and services to be the one-stop solution. We deploy critical communication systems for regulated industries. Moreover, our product EasyCrypt provides you with true encryption. We believe in - "your data, your ownership, and your control." Our Communigate Pro is the private cloud that you would need for storing sensitive data. Everything is customized as per your requirements. And regulations? We are one of the few organizations authorized to deploy such critical communication systems. We have deployed solutions for the US Space Force and Paypal, a couple of our major clients. With the rise in awareness about privacy, everyone is looking for a solution to protect their interests. Take control of your privacy. Use the products and services that put your privacy and requirements first.
------------------------------------------------------ Cyberattacks are soaring, and more regulated industries are turning into national assets. These concepts and their real-world implementation are crucial. We have been trusted by over 17,000 organizations globally to deploy critical communication and other services. Trust is in short supply these days; make the right choice. Check us out on LinkedIn and Twitter for more cybersecurity tips! Until our next edition, stay SPECtacular!
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