ChannelVision Magazine

Cyber Patrol Don’t Forget Mobile. Especially in this era of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and having remote workers connecting to corporate resources via public Wi-Fi connections, compa- nies must make sure that communi- cations on employee mobile devices are secure. That means on internal or external wireless LANs, cellular or wired networks. Using strong, two- factor authentication and encryption is key, as is VPN functionality for users that connect from home or a public Wi-Fi hotspot. Mobile device management software is available for locking down company functions on a user device as well. Patch, Patch, Patch. Performing regular maintenance and keeping security protections up-to-date on both endpoints and the UC system itself should not be a “nice to have.” Taking advantage of unpatched sys- tems with known security flaws is one of the top ways that bad actors enter company networks to install malware or exfiltrate data. Patching can be a labor-intensive process, but the effort taken to do it can pre- vent significant brand and financial damage down the road. See the GDPR Looming. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, and it will give EU regulators the power to levy punitive damages as high a €20m (or 4 percent of global turnover, whichever is greater) on those that fail to adhere to a series of requirements when it comes to securing the data of EU citizens. Any damages could be significant enough to put a smaller or- ganization out of business. Any business that has any deal- ings whatsoever with the data of EU citizens is subject to the GDPR, even if that business is located in the Unit- ed States. In other words, if a compa- ny has a customer on the Continent, or has dealings with a business that may be headquartered overseas but has a location stateside, or if a busi- ness is involved in, say, the restaurant or hospitality business and has for- eign tourists as part of its customer base, GDPR comes into play. The requirements include: all breaches must be reported to regu- lators within 72-hours of the orga- nization becoming aware of it; the regulator must also be informed of “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” measures taken/pro- posed to address the breach and/ or mitigate its effects; if the breach is sufficiently serious to warrant notification to affected customers, the organization responsible must do so without undue delay. Compliance with GDPR requires changes in technology, processes, reporting and more. Adopting tech- nologies such as hosted UC with en- cryption can go a long way to helping company’s get ready. o 10-year marketing veteran David Portnowitz leads Star2Star’s creative, digital and co-op market- ing efforts. POWERED BY & MEET US AT CHANNEL PARTNERS - LAS VEGAS APRIL 2018, SEE YOU THERE! THE FUTURE OF HOTEL COMMUNICATIONS BOOTH 7068 A "CONCIERGE LEVEL" HOSPITALITY SOLUTION CHECK-IN CHECK-OUT March - April, 2018 | Channel Vision 29