Using the Right Technology for Asset Management Companies

Nicholas J Price
More and more corporations are giving credence to the idea of establishing IT management teams. The technology in today's marketplace demands giving equal attention to a term some corporations aren't well acquainted with just yet ' information security governance.

The right technology for asset management companies and other industries is now available. In learning how to conduct business securely online, asset management companies need to know a little about what makes technology 'right' for their purposes. To gain this understanding, company leadership needs to clearly understand the difference in roles between IT management and information security governance, including some common misperceptions about information security governance.

Boards and senior leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for knowing how best to keep company transactions secure using all forms of communication, including cloud-based technology.

What Is Information Security Governance?

If your business is in the infant stage of getting familiar with understanding important technical terms, you're certainly not alone. Let's clarify a couple of misconceptions.

IT management stands for information technology, which is the practice of using computers to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. IT management is a continual process of identifying and mitigating security risks.

Information security governance is related to IT management, but they are different areas of technological processes. Information security governance pertains to creating and overseeing technology programs and protocols. The role of information security governance is to plan strategically for technological measures that will protect the organization's information even when dealing with the most highly sensitive data. Specific areas that need extra security are financial, legal, customer, partner, research and development, and proprietary information.

Why Is Information Security Governance Important for Asset Management Companies?

Data breaches occur so frequently, it's becoming impossible to keep track of them. CSO magazine recently put together a list of the top 17 biggest or most significant data breaches of the century. While data breaches are becoming commonplace, it's not a valid reason for taking them any less seriously than we used to.

Data breaches still damage companies over the short and long term. They cause lack of trust among business partners and customers. Companies stand to lose much of the revenue that they planned for so carefully and strategically. To make matters worse, data breaches nearly always have a strong impact on the company's reputation.

Information security governance is vital because it assures customers, partners and employees that they're working with a company that's devoted to protecting all data and communications at the highest possible security level.

Corporations must keep on top of the latest in security practices to make sure that only the right employees have access to certain data and that hackers can't find a way to break in. Part of the responsibility for those who work in information security governance is to evaluate the security of inter-related systems. Regular email platforms typically lack high levels of security, yet some companies continue using them in the hopes that the security of programs that interface with regular email systems will provide the necessary security. This is a misconception. The fact is that regular emails can expose secure programs to vulnerabilities.

Who Is Responsible for Information Security Governance?

Employees who work in the field of information security governance are the lead people responsible for overseeing security measures. As a means of checks and balances, corporations may designate the board, executive management, a steering committee or some combination of leadership to oversee the information security governance team. As with most things related to cybersecurity, protecting information should be part of the corporate culture. Ultimately, information security governance is the responsibility of all teams and employees.

Virtual Data Rooms Are the Right Technology for Asset Management Companies

Asset management companies need the safest possible online solutions for transacting business deals and storing documents. Security in virtual data rooms is strategically designed for highly sensitive documents. Another important feature of virtual data rooms is that the administrator can restrict user access to the data room or documents.

A virtual data room is an asset management company's digital home for secure document storage. It's the most secure platform for proceeding with mergers and acquisitions and private capital transactions. Virtual data rooms make it easy to monitor investment deals and to see if various parties viewed deals, made notes on them or whether they're no longer interested.

Start-ups will find that virtual data rooms are a good place to control their documents as they seek to secure funding.

Public Emails Lack the Necessary Security to Support Communications for Mergers and Acquisitions

While we've come to rely on our regular personal and business emails to conduct business, regular email presents many opportunities for risks, leaks and hacks. Are you aware that, even if you're using other electronic tools and systems to conduct your business, but using regular email as your messaging system, your data is still at risk? Many new electronic tools have increased their security measures; however, when syncing them to your regular email system, it undermines the security of the other tools, placing your data and communications at risk.

Diligent Corporation uses the right security for virtual data rooms, which is ISO/IEC 27001 and 27002, and it includes the highest levels of security offered by providers.

If you're looking for a virtual data room that supports temporary services for arranging mergers and acquisitions, it only makes sense to choose one that continues to support your data needs for the long term ' one that includes top-level security features that support secure messaging and secure electronic document storage.

The Wrap-Up With Information Security Governance and Virtual Data Rooms

The focus on information security governance will be a continuous process of learning for all companies that share the common goal of keeping data and communications secure. Corporations within all industries need to stay ahead of the curve of the evolution that cyber risks present. Information security governance and virtual data rooms are proactive strategies and processes that corporations can use right now to ward against threats against valuable information. Diligent Corporation is committed to providing the most secure innovations for corporate governance and enterprise management solutions.
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Nicholas J. Price
Nicholas J. Price is a former Manager at Diligent. He has worked extensively in the governance space, particularly on the key governance technologies that can support leadership with the visibility, data and operating capabilities for more effective decision-making.