What Keeps Security Leaders Up at Night
Ontic, provider of a cloud-based enterprise security platform and security consultatn, published a survey of 300 chief security officers, chief legal officers, chief compliance officers and security decision-makers at U.S. companies with over 5,000 employees. The survey polled them about their current physical security operations, the challenges and opportunities they confront, and the pressing need for security modernization through technology.
While the Ontic 2021 State of Protective Intelligence Report is primarily concerned with physical security threats, many of the findings apply to flagging and preventing incidents related to harassment, bullying, and other toxic behaviors conducted via company email and messaging platforms.
In this post we cover some of the key takeaways:
- The growing need for technology to keep employees safe and mitigate risk
- The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic
- The need for a technology-driven industry standard to monitor and manage risk
The Growing Need for a Technological Solution
One of the overarching conclusions in the Onic survey is that many companies have lagged in the adoption and investment in technologies to protect people and assets akin to the kind of investments made in cybersecurity. As the report states:
“Corporate leaders face greater fiduciary scrutiny and personal liability for business continuity, coupled with a growing recognition their organizations are increasingly targets they must protect from harm. A proactive, always-on, data and intelligence-driven function powered by universal, accessible technology has never been more important for corporations.”
The report further goes on to state:
“[R]apid change and expansion of the…threat landscape has created an exponential increase in data and pre-incident indicators that have become unmanageable. What’s more, in relation to digital transformation of…threat management, company leadership is under more pressure than ever before, from a financial, corporate reputation and liability standpoint, to keep their employees safe from physical harm.”
This conclusion is based on a number of key survey findings:
- 78% of survey respondents agreed with the above statement.
- 43% said identifying potential threats and managing the large volumes of threat data “keeps them up at night.”
- 71% respondents agree that lack of unified protective intelligence resulted in missed threats and harm to their employees
- 84% agree they could better avoid threats if they had a single system-of-record platform.
Most significantly, 91% agree with the need for a technology-driven industry standard to actively identify, investigate, assess, monitor and manage potential threats.
When asked how companies can benefit from the digital transformation of threat security, the common themes were:
- Increase in overall security
- More efficient processes
- Earlier detection of potential threats
As one respondent put it, what is needed is a way in which “data is compiled, categorized and shared in real time and the time from when a potential threat is noticed until it is acted upon is decreased.”
The Challenges of the Pandemic and Remote Working
The pandemic accelerated the threat level, exacerbated in large part by the greater reliance on remote working, a trend that is likely to continue in some form or another post-pandemic. The majority of surveyed security experts (82%) agree or strongly agree that continued remote working requires the same dedication to a proper technology-based security solution at the same level of that committed to cybersecurity. Fundamental to that investment is the achievement of real-time monitoring and threat reporting.
Proactive Real-Time Email and Messaging Threat Monitoring
Remote working, even in a hybrid format, means an even greater reliance on company email and messaging systems. As we’ve pointed out, while toxic workplace behavior is at least observable in an office environment, it can easily go unnoticed and unreported in the virtual online environment. Also, an email address for the HR department lacks the privacy and safety of a physical HR office in which an employee might feel comfortable filing a report of harassment.
This “new normal” increases the threat level presented by toxic communications that can easily go undetected if employees lack confidence in reporting offensive behavior directed at them or their colleagues.
Fortunately, there is no need to develop an industry standard to prevent harassment, bullying, and other inappropriate behavior conducted via electronic communications.
Because there already is one,
CommSafe AI Safe Communications Software™ is the smart, scalable tool to detect in real-time potential harassment content, as well as tone and sentiment, in employee email and chat communications.
Simple to use, and easily integrated into your existing systems, an easy-to-read dashboard displays flagged email and messaging communications for your HR and security staff to review and take necessary preventative steps before it escalates into a problem that harms your employees and your company reputation.
It’s the intelligent easy-to-use solution combining machine learning and human judgement and experience to better ensure employee communications are free of toxic behavior.
Please review this demo and learn how your security staff can rest easier tonight knowing that inappropriate communications are that much less of a threat.
