Playbook Volume 9 - ChannelVision Magazine

It’s a crucial piece of the to-do list for 2018, given that last year set the record for both the most breaches and the most data compromised in a year, as several new trends (such as a surge in cloud storage misconfigurations) characterized the proceedings. According to Risk Based Security’s 2017 Data Breach QuickView Report , there were 5,207 breaches recorded last year, surpassing the previous high mark set in 2015 by nearly 20 percent. The number of records compromised also surpassed all other years, with more than 7.8 billion records exposed, a 24.2 per- cent increase over 2016’s previous high of 6.3 billion. At the same time, the risk landscape is shifting too, with new regulations and compliance requirements blooming right along with the tulips this spring. Here are six considerations for secur- ing your customers’ UC systems and be- ing in compliance: Protect Communications Channels. Above all, you need to protect against unauthorized access to sensitive commu- nications and information, taking steps to guarantee that the integrity of that data has not been compromised by insecure interactions that may allow proprietary information to be intercepted. This generally involves encryption, strong authentication and an audit of who has access to what information and under which circumstances. Focus on how the UC system will be used in its different modes of communications (voice, web conferencing, video calls and presence, etc.) and think about if there needs to be restrictions related to their business use. Compliance. It’s also critical to per- By David Portnowitz A 6-Point Checklist for Securing UC A s ransomware, hacking incidents and massive data breaches continue to play out in the headlines, organizations that rely on VoIP and unified commu- nications (UC) should take stock of what they can do to lock down their systems from attack. form compliance audits to make sure you’re on the right side of a variety of industry and government regulations surrounding data privacy. To do this, you need a way to track usage of voice, messaging and video commu- nications for auditing, compliance and business planning purposes. Regula- tions include the well-known HIPAA requirements in the medical field, a range of financial industry require- ments, and new things on the hori- zon, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, set to go into effect in May. It covers any company that has any dealings with European citizens and carries strict requirements for data safety. Non- compliant organizations face strict penalties of up to 4 percent of global annual turnover. Implement Network Security. IP voice and other UC packets represent just another type of traffic on your network, so the general best prac- tices for network security apply. It’s important to use firewalls to prevent unauthorized traffic from entering or leaving a company’s network, which will help protect the business from at- tacks and malware. Also, other forms of network access control (NAC), intrusion protection and detection and more will help to establish a perimeter around any crown jewels. Don’t Forget Mobile. Espe- cially in this era of bring-your-own- 18 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK