What you need to know about unified communication security.

While unified communications as a service (UCaaS) has the power to transform how your organization approaches collaboration and client engagement, it does come with its own security challenges. For example, implementing strict user access controls is a critical step to protecting your UCaaS tools. Similarly, ensuring your team’s file-sharing tools don’t open security vulnerabilities is something you need to do continually.

In this post, we’ll detail some critical UCaaS security strategies, so your team can be better prepared to respond to threats while still leveraging the full potential of their communication tools.

Policies for regularly conducting audits are at the core of securing any UCaaS platform. Your own internal security team, as well as your vendors, should be periodically performing comprehensive audits to uncover any potential security vulnerabilities and remediate them as quickly as possible. 

At 42, Inc., we recommend holistic audits be conducted quarterly. Why so frequently? As your team’s collaboration tools are updated, the ways they use those tools can evolve, so you need policies in place to respond to those changes. For example, your organization’s instant messaging platform may add capabilities for real-time file sharing, and your security team needs to respond to any vulnerabilities that may cause.

If your team wants to take a more aggressive approach to unveiling UCaaS security vulnerabilities, consider integrating ongoing penetration testing into your broader cybersecurity approach. Whether conducted by your internal security department or a security partner, penetration testing involves an individual or team acting as though they were a cybercriminal attempting to infiltrate your network to uncover security loopholes. 

By using penetration testing to uncover any loopholes in your UCaaS tools, your organization can respond to ever-changing threats. We recommend performing regular penetration testing following any major network software, hardware, and infrastructure updates or upgrades.

A successful UCaaS platform gives your team access to a variety of tools that make collaboration and communication a natural part of their workday. In other words, you need to partner with vendors committed to delivering cutting-edge collaboration tools. At the same time, however, you should ensure the vendors you partner with prioritize cybersecurity as much as you do. As you leverage vendors, make sure they have the relevant compliance and security certification to keep your organization protected.

While it’s easy to put off software updates and patches, they’re critical to securing your network. The more your team collaborates, the more vulnerable your system becomes to unauthorized access. Make sure every member takes the time to patch and update UCaaS tools as they’re released. That way, your organization is protecting day-to-day network operations at every level.

Whether you’re looking to expand your UCaaS platform or you need to reorient your cybersecurity strategies around UCaaS tools, contact the experts at 42, Inc. today. We’ll work with you to pinpoint your goals and challenges so we can develop a UCaaS solution for your operations.