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Tightening CRM Safety Belts In Climate Of Growing Cyberthreats
By Joe Purcell
Expert Author
Article Date: 2011-07-18
Cybercrime is on the rise and data breaches are a daily occurrence. Customer relations managers and those working with CRM software often leave security up to the IT specialists. However, everyone plays a role. A great article at CIO discusses this issue. Let's look at how CRM security can be tightened in this climate of growing cyberthreats.
First, protect personally identifiable information (PII) by only keeping what is necessary and keeping it anonymous. Most companies want to keep as much information on clients as they can. However, this comes at a great cost or risk of penalty. Either the company needs a solid IT security team to oversee that the information is protected which can come at a great cost, or there will be the risk of at least a $7 million penalty from a security breach. Unless solid security is available, only keep information that is critical for the CRM team to operate. The simplest way is to avoid keeping as much sensitive data as possible.
Second, as the article suggests, keep user accounts anonymous, but also keep passwords anonymous too. CRM employees have high visibility and high turnover, thus, it will be very easy for hackers to socially engineer their username and password. Make sure usernames and passwords of CRM employees contain absolutely no personal data, which can be done with even remote creativity as this article shows. Protecting usernames and passwords to CRM data is fundamental to security.
Third, establish a user identity cycle. Whenever an employee leaves their user profile should be deactivated and never used again. If the employee returns they should have a new account created. On a similar note, user passwords should be changed on a 6-month basis at the very least.
Hopefully these few security tips will help keep your CRM data secure. If your company has undergone a data breach before or has been attacked, it is imperative to seek security consulting. Implementing good security practices now can save your company's reputation and a lot of money in the long run.
About the Author:
Joe Purcell is a technology virtuoso, cyberspace frontiersman, and connoisseur of Linux, Mac, and Windows alike.
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