Importance Of Proactive Cyber Security For Contact Centers

Written by KOVA Corp

 

Cyber security has been a much-discussed topic recently, and for good reason. Cyber attacks are hitting hospitals, corporations, financial organizations, universities, and even governments. Anywhere that important, sensitive data is stored has become a target for hackers. And unfortunately, this applies to contact centers, as well. Depending on the type of business you work for, your contact center may have to take and hold valuable information from consumers. You assure them that this information is secure, but are you really taking the right steps to keep that data safe?

When organizations have been attacked in the past, they suddenly become quite interested in cyber security. However, the best defense against hackers and anyone trying to gain access to customer information is to be proactive, not reactive, about security in your contact center. A company that is static and unwilling to change their behaviors and practices is a company that is an easy target for a cyber attack. The secret is out, and there’s no longer any excuse for not proactively protecting your customers’ data.

ID Questions
Having strong Q&A security protocol in place can help prevent fraud at your contact center. You need to use questions that customers will be able to provide unique responses to in order to enforce the security of their data. Hackers can gain access to a wide variety of information about consumers without their knowledge, so it’s important that these questions are personal and distinct.

Keep Your Agents Educated
Probably the easiest way for a criminal to breach security through a call center is by tricking an employee. This isn’t necessarily your employee’s fault, though. Contact centers have high employee turnover, and agents are usually being taught to be helpful and to find a resolution for the customer as quickly as possible. You must train your employees with a comprehensive security program, making sure they understand all the guidelines, and how to spot suspicious activity.

Agents also need to be trained to spot suspicious emails, and know to never click on a link or document from an unknown source, as this is one of the most common ways that hackers install malicious software.

Layers Of Protection
Cyber criminals continue to evolve their methods and look for ways to beat your security, so you have to evolve, as well. This means providing multiple layers of protection for your customers’ information. Even if a document is on a secure network, it should also be encrypted and protected so that it cannot be compromised if it is sent to the wrong recipient or accessed by someone else.

Cyber criminals are going to continue to change their methods and think up new ways to beat security systems. That means businesses have to be proactive about keeping their customers data safe. Contact centers and their agents have to be on the watch for criminal activity as the threats continue to grow. So if you think your contact center could use a security upgrade, contact Kova today.

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