UC&C23 Nov 2017 · 4 min read

UC Trends: But is it Safe?

One of the major concerns for many businesses with regards to cloud UC are the security risks involved with hosting private data in an external location that is managed entirely by an external provider.

Ian Taylor

Data Centre Security

Placing trust in people we don’t know isn’t something many of us would do very often in our personal lives – and in business it is no different. Relationships are built on trust and businesses should be certain that their UC vendor’s reputation is solid and that they have a proven track record of providing a safe environment for their customers’ data to be stored.

For any businesses still using on-premises or hybrid UC, it’s essential to ensure that all the latest security updates are installed and that all employees are educated on the present risks and what they can do to prevent themselves from attacks.

A good quality cloud service provider on the other-hand will have baked security into the platform’s design and will manage the threats ongoing, so you don’t have to.

Toll Fraud Detection & Prevention

With a recent NEC infographic having named the UK as the 3^rd most targeted country for toll fraud in the world, with each attack estimated to cost a business as much as £10,000, finding a way to protect themselves from these threats has become a key priority for business owners.

In order to do this, it’s vital that businesses discuss what the UC vendor’s policy is on toll fraud and determining what steps they have taken to prevent attacks these attacks from happening before they go into partnership.

Privacy & Compliance

As the GDPR deadline gets closer, there are many concerns for businesses who face huge fines of up to €20 million or 4% or annual global turnover (whichever is higher) should they be caught using non-compliant UC applications after 25^th May 2018.

For many businesses, this is a huge threat as fines of that magnitude could cause irreparable damage – but, according to sources, it may be just as, if not more damaging for a company to invest mass volumes of its capital into ensuring that all of its communications are fully compliant within the next 6 months.

Instead, what is recommended is that companies start planning ahead for GDPR with a focus on pragmatism and prevention through rigorous staff training programmes and a revaluation of the company’s privacy policy that explicitly outlines what rules it follows with regards to data protection.

Shadow UC

Efficiency and simplicity are highly valued in business and third-party “shadow” UC applications have succeeded in providing a cost-effective, speedy solution for many users looking to save time and boost overall performance in the workplace – but what are the risks?

In a recent report by Information age, 76% of the information officers involved in the survey claimed that their employees were accessing the network through non-company apps that award very little control to the business itself and expose large volumes of their data to external sources.

With the GDPR deadline edging closer, businesses are now under great pressure to tighten up the security of their network and the vast majority of shadow UC applications currently used by employees are non-compliant with these new regulations.

As a result, now is the crucial time for businesses to begin investing in cloud UC solutions of their own that enable their employees to easily engage with customers and colleagues through multiple channels in a way that is secure, compliant and fully managed internally by the business.

User Access

Likewise, the importance of securing a business’s network and placing strict restrictions on who can access and manage it is more crucial than ever before to ensure the company is protected from both cyber-attacks and the increasing threat of hefty fines from data privacy regulators.

With cloud UC, one of the major benefits for administrators is that all UC applications used by employees across multiple devices can be monitored and controlled from a single, centralised location point that can be accessed only by those with the authority to do so.

As a result, it is much simpler for businesses to create their own administration policies that will be strictly followed by an assigned group of ICT administrators.