Effective board communication is crucial to ensure directors make informed decisions and are involved. However, boards must face the task of balancing the necessity to communicate effectively, while protecting sensitive information and preventing cyberattacks.
Boards must use secure collaboration tools such as boards portals and messaging platforms in real-time in order to keep discussions confidential documents, sensitive discussions and other confidential data. This is becoming more important as more companies are affected by hacks and breaches and regulators adopt new security standards.
Security experts agree that it’s not a question of “if” an enterprise will experience the occurrence of a data breach however, it is more about “when.” A successful cybersecurity framework requires a strong relationship between the board and the chief information security officer (CISO). CISOs must take advantage of every opportunity to convey their vision and strategy to the board, and leveraging the board’s buy-in to provide more effective responses to cyberattacks.
Many board members and governance experts use their personal email accounts to send out internal communications, especially during virtual meetings. This puts organizations at risk for phishing attacks and other cyberattacks targeting prominent individuals such as directors, C-level executives and other senior management personnel.
It is critical to train your board members on the importance of using cybersecurity best practices. This should include a thorough review of the kinds of data they share on insecure channels, including meeting minutes and even informal communications. It is also essential to make use of secure document sharing platforms that has encryption as well access controls to stop documents from being copied or downloaded from third parties.