Cloud communication is fast becoming the new standard in business communication. It offers maximum flexibility and scalability and is perfectly suited to the needs of fast-growing businesses and remote teams. Plus, it eliminates the need for bulky and maintenance-heavy hardware, cutting costs.
However, pinpointing the right cloud communication provider for a business’ unique needs can be tricky. The market is competitive, with dozens of cloud communication companies vying for business’ attention. Comparing them is a challenge.
One aspect that is crucial to factor in, though, is security.
Given the ever-increasing number and sophistication of cyberattacks, cloud communication services need to provide a high level of cybersecurity to protect their customer’s data and help businesses protect theirs.
Here are six essential security features for cloud communication services to watch out for.
Data Encryption
To start with, businesses need to verify that the cloud communication services they are looking at have strong data encryption protocols. End-to-end encryption (E2EE) for data is critical when it comes to preventing unauthorized agents accessing sensitive information.
E2EE ensures that nobody but the sender and the recipient of messages can read them. The same goes for calls, which are transmitted using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Businesses need to be sure to pick a cloud communication provider that guarantees call encryption via Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP). Both of these protocols establish high-level security for every cloud-based call.
Compliance With Standards
Next, businesses need to check that individual cloud communication providers are compliant with different industry standards and regulations, especially if they apply to their niche and geographical area.
In Europe, for instance, compliance with GDPR – the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union – is crucial. This also applies to businesses with customers in the EU.
For businesses in the healthcare sector in the US, compliance with HIPAA – the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – is critical to maintain the privacy and security of their customers’ data.
Other notable cybersecurity frameworks for cloud communication providers include SOC 2 (the Service Organization Control Type 2), which was developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance) certification, and Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards.
Even for businesses that are not legally required to comply with these standards, knowing that a cloud communication provider guarantees this level of security is a strong point in favor.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Another security feature that cloud communication providers businesses consider need to provide is identity and access management (IAM). This means that businesses should have fine-grained control over who gets to access what type of data and how. Team leaders get to manage user identities and permissions, and define role-based access control (RBAC).
What also falls under the umbrella of IAM is multi-factor authentication (MFI), which requires users to periodically confirm their identity through an additional step, such as using a second device. Strong authentication measures are especially important for secure APIs to prevent unauthorized access.
DDoS Protection
While there are many different kinds of cyberattack, DDoS – distributed denial of service – is one of the most common ones when it comes to cloud communication. In this type of attack, the cybercriminals aim to make a network resource unavailable by overloading it, thus causing interruptions of connections.
In practical terms, this means that a cloud communication provider affected by DDoS can no longer guarantee a stable channel of communication between businesses and their customers. At the very least, this leads to frustrations that significantly impact customer experience (CX), a key driver in business outcomes according to 96% of business leaders according to a recent study conducted by Nextiva, a leading provider of CX solutions.
When comparing cloud communication services, businesses need to verify that they have plans and redundancies in place for DDoS protection.
Network Security
Another essential security feature businesses should keep in mind when comparing cloud communications providers is network security, which includes offline security.
Cloud communication services should offer features such as firewalls, private network connections, and segmentation to ward off cyberattacks.
It’s also well worth looking at the security they guarantee at their data centers – by using biometric access control, for instance, having distributed strategic locations, and being ISO/IEC 27001 certified.
Security Monitoring and Alerts
Finally, an important security element every cloud communication provider ought to offer businesses is an extensive monitoring system that alerts users of suspicious activities and potential breaches.
Being aware of threats is half the battle won. Once businesses know what kind of cybersecurity challenges they are facing in real time, they’ll be able to optimally brief their teams and stay alert to frustrate hackers and protect their customers’ data.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity may not be the first criterion businesses look at when comparing cloud communication services, but it is one of the most important.
By ensuring that cloud communication providers offer high-level security, have redundancies in place, and provide fine-tuned monitoring alerts as well as identity and access management, businesses can offer their customers an outstanding communication experience while safeguarding their data.