By Marc Robinson
As technologies evolve, enterprise data and systems become more vulnerable to attacks, making cybersecurity critical to the success and resilience of any business.
Threat actors and adversaries want to compromise companies for several reasons, whether for financial gain, espionage, or simply to see if a hack is possible. As such, leaders must buy into data security and its criticality because the possibility of a breach is ever-present.
When operating a virtual, work-from-home business process outsourcing (BPO) or customer experience (CX) company, the benefits of cybersecurity, data security, and security enablement are vast. A secure environment provides maturity and integrity, enabling virtual companies to support enterprises that rely on stringent security policies.
On the client side, it provides peace of mind that their BPO or CX partner is aligned with industry best practices and global compliance standards, resulting in a business relationship built on the strongest foundations of trust.
In honor of cybersecurity month, here’s a sneak peek at some of the approaches that have kept Activus Connect cyber secure as a 100% work-from-home business.
Activus Connect: A Virtual Cybersecurity Success Case
People are the number-one security risk in any company. As humans, we naturally trust other people, and threat actors know how to exploit that trust. This vulnerability is why, first and foremost, we practice a Zero Trust approach at Activus Connect to keep our employees, clients, and company safe.
After passing comprehensive background and security checks, our Ambassadors must adhere to an ongoing multi-level authentication process when working. The methodology utilizes key codes, IP address analysis, and multi-factor authentication to ensure that no unauthorized actors are posing as employees.
While our internal managers can listen in on calls, we use built-in compression and voice stream encryption that prevents the risk of external threat actors doing the same. We also use a virtual desktop platform with an integrated stack approach, including network, storage, and server infrastructure bundled with virtualization, automation, and orchestration software. With our private cloud environments, we segregate client applications and data from public clouds and utilize multiple highly redundant SSAE18 and PCI-compliant data centers. Combining these tools has enabled us to develop a secure system that we can quickly scale alongside client demand.
Above all, it’s critically important to train people when seeking to strengthen security. Unfortunately, many companies only do quick high-level security and compliance training, which doesn’t prepare people for threats, phishing attacks, and exploits. Keeping that training front and center is vital to help reduce the amount of risk out there.
At Activus, we ensure our employees receive continuous security and compliance training. In addition, we push out spam and other targeted communications to place our people in common phishing-like scenarios, followed by specific training to combat those potential exploits.
With the proper infrastructure, vendors, and protocols, we can apply our robust security practices to a remote setting, leveraging proven stop gaps and technology to meet strict client demands. From where we stand at Activus Connect, cybersecurity is about protecting people, data, and company integrity, placing it at the core of everything we do. We encourage any virtual CX or BPO company to do the same.