Data security is an important factor in every enterprise and organization. Every day lots of confidential information is sent and received. And any compromise in security can harm the company’s reputation.
Sometimes, companies need to send sensitive data or messages to their employees or to another company. When sending such a message, we need to ensure that no one else is able to intercept it.
Sending such information through normal communication channels like email is a bad idea since there have been multiple cases of data breaches. And that is why we need to make our communication channels secure.
Today, we will talk about some of the best ways to secure communication channels that every enterprise should use to send sensitive information.
Requirements for a Channel to Be Secure
There are some requirements to call a communication channel secure. When sending sensitive data through a communication channel, make sure that it meets the following three requirements.
- The information that you are sending is private and is not visible to any other third parties.
- The channel’s security must be impenetrable. It must be designed in a way that it becomes extremely difficult for cybercriminals to enter. They generally get into your system by guessing the password, leveraging API loopholes, or exploiting bad codes.
- For a channel to be secure, it should be reliable and trustworthy. The channel should be consistent, with no interruptions or any vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
The Best Ways to Secure Communication Channels
SharePass
Say you want to share confidential information like a secret message, password or an embedded sensitive data. In such a case, you will probably send it via email, sms or any existing messaging platforms, making it risky and prone to getting intercepted.
Instead, you can just “SharePass it”. SharePass is an online digital security solution that you can use to share sensitive information without leaving any digital footprint for cybercriminals to intercept. It provides even more benefits for a business, like credentials protection and overall improvement of the security profile.
The process of sending a secure message using SharePass is extremely simple. Go to their website https://sharepass.online and type your secret message in the text box.
After you have typed the message, click on “SHAREPASS IT!” It will generate a secure link that you can send to someone else via your existing communication tools so no major change in your way of communications is required.
As soon as the recipient clicks on the link, it becomes invalid. So, there is no digital footprint for hackers to discover and trace.
You can share passwords and secret notes. The upcoming updates on SharePass will also allow you to send account credentials, QR codes, JSON structured data and other types of information.
You can set the expiration or time frames for the secret messages that you are sending. This will ensure that the availability of the links is based on your time frame.
Another interesting feature is the “password strength calculator”. When you are typing the secret that you want to send, SharePass will calculate how secure it is. Based on those results, you might consider changing your password and use a more secure one.
The messages you send are encrypted on the client side so the content is visible only by you and the recipient intended to read it.
SharePass is currently supported on PC’s, smartphones, and tablets as a web version. There is already a beta version of the Chrome extension and iOS mobile app. Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox will be supported soon. The features that are coming soon include:
SSO, MFA, templates, real time secure communication, dedicated portal, option to choose your own encryption module, monitoring, real time authorization and more.
If you are a business, you can fully integrate SharePass with your business software to share information among your colleagues securely by leveraging SharePass API.
The commercial and enterprise versions of SharePass are currently in development and are due to be released in early 2022. Please feel free to register your interest here: https://sharepass.online/register-your-interest/
Encrypted Emails
You can send emails more securely if you simply encrypt them. Third parties and cybercriminals may be able to intercept your mail, but they won’t be able to open it if it is encrypted with a password.
There are several services on the internet that allow you to send emails that are encrypted with a password. You can use app extensions and plugins like Enigmail or dedicated services like ProtonMail. ProtonMail comes with PGP fully integrated, thus allowing you to send sensitive information securely without any extra effort.
IRC Channels
IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is an application layer protocol that is used by multiple people at once to send text messages and documents using their individual devices.
It is similar to WhatsApp, but enterprises use platforms that have higher levels of security and are less prone to breaches. A great example is Signal.
This is a popular communication channel since almost everyone is familiar with chatting platforms. Plus, you don’t need to put in any additional effort. Just select the right app, create a secure channel, and you are good to go.
Use a VPN
VPNs or Virtual Private Networks give you a secure platform where you can get a secure tunnel to send and receive information.
Using a VPN gives you lots of benefits. Firstly, your IP address is completely hidden since VPNs redirect your data through a remote server. This server is run by the VPN host. This means hackers won’t be able to get a hold of your identity or location.
Plus, any data that is transferred through the VPN tunnels gets converted to gibberish text, which cannot be understood by anyone who intercepts the transfer.
Popular VPN hosts like ExpressVPN have military-grade security, plus they don’t keep any logs of your data. So, if you are looking to make your secure communication channels even more secure, use a VPN.
Don’t Rely on Telecommunication
While phone calls and text messages are easy to send and receive, they are not secure. In fact, any form of communication that is dependent on a cell tower is not secure. Also, it is better to use a secure Wi-Fi network instead of mobile data when sending and receiving information through an IRC channel.
Wrapping Up
These are the best ways to secure your communication channels. You don’t have to implement any complex methods to make your communication channels impenetrable. All you need to do is to select the right tools, like a VPN, secure IRC platform, etc., to send sensitive data without worrying about any security breach. And if you want to send a secret message or password to someone via a super-secure channel, you can simply use SharePass.
