Customer Data Security
As an organization that has a repository of customer data with it, it is of utmost importance that this data be handled securely without any chances of a data breach that may otherwise bring about customer disservice and dissatisfaction. It is also the right of the customers that they question the organization of how their data is kept secure. But, sometimes, there happen to be incidences where organizations unknowingly and without any malicious intent expose their customers’ data to outsider threats and data thefts become an everyday affair, which leads to dissatisfaction on the part of their customers. So, how does an organization deliver customer data security and see to it that there are no data breaches or regulatory compliance measures are met?
Authentication, application, and data layer are the three effective methods that ensure that customer data security is not compromised while preserving seamless customer experience.
First Layer of Authentication
Authentication is the first and foremost method by which customers interact with your brand, and it becomes pertinent that you make this secure and convenient for the users so that they will be convinced with your services. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) or two-step authentication is the best way to address the customer data security issue in the authentication layer. But if not implemented correctly, then it may adversely annoy the customers.
So, to overcome the problem of giving the users a good experience, and at the same time, take care of their data security concerns, the contextual MFA can be implemented. Contextual MFA requires that you insert in the security authentication only in high-risk areas like when there is a high-value transaction or when there is a customer login from another device. Centrally enforcing secure password policies and implementing the Single Sign-On (SSO) practices across all of your apps in the organization reduces the password fatigue and helps in creating a safe environment.
Second Layer of Application/API
A seamless and secure experience is what is needed by the customers, even when you are exposing multiple internal and partner applications to them. It makes the customers feel that they are accessing only one brand, also though they are, in reality, interacting with various apps. In such scenarios, centralized session management helps in ensuring that the risk layer is minimized, thus heightening the security at the same time providing a cohesive customer interaction. By using the single logout, the customers can log out from various sessions in one go, and this prevents unauthorized access until the user has a new login. It ensures that the customers don’t remain accidentally authenticated to an application that they think they have signed out.
Third Layers of Data
The final layer is the data layer, where the actual customer data lies, and this is the critical place where protection should be applied. Care should be taken that data is protected at every stage, be it that the information is in rest, in motion, or use. It ensures that the data is protected at all times and does not invariably get leaked to the insider as well as outsider attacks. Active and passive alerts are another form of data protection.
These alert the administrator of the potential threats that may be malicious in intent. Various measures can be applied here for data security like limiting the number of files that can be accessed by the employees, maintaining tamper-evident logs, and protecting against Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. Though the company may be targeting enhanced customer experience, when the data layer encompasses these security features, the service-level agreement (SLA) between the customer and the service provider regarding the security of the personal data of the customer is met.
Happy Customers Campaign!
Enterprises regard the security of customer identities as their high-priority task. It is no doubt a very complicated and intricate job. There are several cloud security practices that even the cloud service providers offer, which best-suits the organization practices. The layered and centralized approach is the best solution for customer data security purposes, which are managed by expert security teams.
Thus, by tackling each of the layers one-by-one and knowing what level of customer security is needed, it becomes easy to operate and maintain customer data information securely. Cloud Access Security Brokers come in the limelight now, and their useful CASB solutions offer all these and more security protocols.