Case service sector: Sharing confidential data among project team
In a design office, client’s assignments contain almost without exceptions confidential material. Data leakage may endanger the protection of privacy and additionally compromise business or professional secrets. Therefore, information must be handled carefully.
To enable the design office to do business, information, documents and images must be shared with customers, authorities and various consultants. In order for communication to be fast and efficient, it must be done electronically. For information security reasons, this data cannot be sent by insecure methods.
Challenge was to discuss about the files in FTP server
The office previously had the general conversations with customers either by phone or e-mail and discuss the more sensitive material during face-to-face meetings. Documents were uploaded using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and memory sticks.
There were several problems in the project team’s old mode of operation. Firstly, the meetings took a lot of time, especially if the customer was in another city. Secondly, document-related communication was differentiated from the documents themselves. Thirdly, there were challenges in document version management.
Looking for a high security solution
The design office was not interested in implementing any heavy systems. However, it was important to have a high-security solution where communication under NDAs could be done with both internal and external parties.
Initially, the company was considering switching to secure e-mail. However, this idea was abandoned because e-mail is challenging when sending large attachments. And because the conversation in e-mail is easily sprawling and difficult to document.
Efficient use of working hours with electronic workspace
The solution to the challenges was found in an electronic workspace where confidential material can be shared, and the content of the documents discussed. Employees were facilitated when both discussion and material were in one place. Customers especially thanked about the easy way to upload files and about the direct access to all documents and versions.
The company noticed that it could save time in projects as there were less “waisted hours”. Thanks to electronic method they were able to take more customer projects and thus increase their business.
Case technology company: Improving board members’ electronic communication without forgetting security
Based on the conversations had in a technology company, it had been determined that the electronic communication between the Board of Directors should be developed with information security in mind.
The company’s Board of Directors consists of 8 persons outside the company and, in addition, the company’s CEO is actively involved in communication with them. This group of nine persons in total needs a convenient way to discuss their future plans in a secure way, regardless of location.
Problem: The difficulty of following the communication and information security risks
In the current situation, the communication has been mostly done by e-mail. One of the information security problems is the fact that out of the group members only the CEO has the company’s e-mail address in use. Some use their own employer’s e-mail and others use their personal e-mail such as Gmail or Hotmail accounts. For example, the meeting material has been sent to the members by e-mail as a password protected ZIP file.
There is a concern, however, about the level of security in ZIP files, the user selected passwords and the storing of files on servers outside the company. Also the lack of protection in the further communication done by e-mail has caused some concern. In addition, sometimes following the long e-mail conversations is challenging. It is also time consuming to search for the latest version of documents and passwords for ZIP files.
Solution: Secure Rooms – secure workspace for groups
Secure Rooms is suitable for group messaging and it combines confidential communication and file sharing between two or more people.
A dedicated secure room is opened for the company’s Board of Directors. With group messaging, the messages are visible to all members at the same time and in a secure manner. Notification of new messages arrives by e-mail or text message, if so desired.
With Secure Rooms group messaging, files and messages remain protected in the same place. Since communication is assembled together in a secure workspace, messaging remains intact and everyone sees the communication the same way.
Each Board meeting can have their own meeting folder within the secure workspace. This way all material and messaging related to that meeting remain neatly in order.
Thanks to team work functions, finding a joint time on the calendar is easy and the next meeting can be arranged quickly. In addition, a quick survey of opinions can be done among the members of the group with voting.
Case service sector: Sharing confidential material with several stakeholders
A company in the service sector, specialized in mergers and acquisitions, was looking for a solution to share confidential information related to acquisitions among various stakeholders.
How to manage a large amount of strategic information throughout a multi-stakeholder project?
In an acquisition, a number of different groups from both the acquisition coordinator’s side and from the potential purchaser’s side are involved. Confidential material and information must be shared securely between all parties involved.
A secure workspace keeps the data intended for different stakeholder groups separate
Secure Rooms, a secure workspace for sharing files and messaging, is well suited for precisely this kind of information sharing between multiple stakeholders and so was a suitable solution for the company in question.
Access rights to the shared information could be determined for different parties in accordance with their needs and roles. From the usability point of view, it was important that the same solution made it possible for the parties not only to securely share files but also to communicate confidentially.
