Secure Board Communication and Cybersecurity Best Practices

Effective communication among board members is essential to ensure that directors take informed decisions and are actively involved. However, boards face the problem of balancing the need to communicate effectively while safeguarding sensitive information and preventing cyberattacks.

Boards should make use of secure collaboration tools such as boards portals and messaging platforms in real-time, to ensure that discussions as well as sensitive documents and data private. This is becoming a priority as more companies fall prey to hacks and breaches and regulators are setting new security standards.

Cybersecurity experts state that it is not a matter of “if” an organization will experience data breaches however, it is more about “when.” A effective cybersecurity framework must have a strong relationship between the board and the chief information security officer (CISO). CISOs should seize every opportunity to communicate their strategy and vision with the board. This will assist them to get the board’s support to provide more effective cyberattack responses.

Many board members and experts in governance rely on their personal email accounts to send out internal communications, especially during virtual meetings. This puts organizations at greater risk of being targeted boardroomsolutions.org/how-to-get-entry-level-data-analyst-job/ by phishing and other cyberattacks that target high-profile individuals, such as directors and C-level executives.

It is critical to provide training to your board members on the importance of using cybersecurity best practices. This should include a discussion of the types of information they share on insecure channels, including minutes of meetings and even informal communications. It is also crucial to use a secure document sharing platform that has encryption as well access controls to avoid documents being copied or downloaded by third individuals.