Top 5 IT strategies to secure your brand's communication channels

Brand communications play a critical role in building and supporting relationships with customers. However, with increased connectivity comes increased security risks. It takes just one cyberattack to damage a company's reputation, something from which they might never recover from.  

Strong IT strategies are vital for safeguarding brand communication. In this blog post, we'll explore how to effectively protect brand communications and offer practical steps for implementing a strategy. 

Understanding the main cyberthreats 

Before diving into strategies, it's important to understand the various cyberthreats that can compromise brand communication.  

A cyberattack can seriously harm a brand's reputation, causing losses in customer trust and finances. A Centrify study shows that 65% of data breach victims lose trust in the organization that experienced the breach. Meanwhile, according to PwC, 87% of consumers are open to switching to a competitor after a breach. 

The main cyberthreats include: 

• Phishing: This involves sending emails, messages, or even creating fake websites that appear to be from legitimate sources, tricking individuals into revealing personal details such as passwords or credit card numbers. 

• Malware: This encompasses viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, and spyware. These programs can delete files, steal data, or cause system malfunctions. Antivirus software is often used to detect and remove malware. 

• Man-in-the-middle attacks: These attacks often occur on unsecured or poorly secured networks, such as public Wi-Fi. They allow attackers to eavesdrop on private communications or alter the data being sent between parties without detection. 

• Insider threats: These can stem from disgruntled employees or careless actions by staff who have access to sensitive company information. Organizations often implement strict access controls and monitoring to mitigate this risk. 

• Cryptojacking: This type of attack is often executed via malware that runs in the background of a device, using its resources to mine cryptocurrencies. It can lead to decreased device performance and increased electricity usage. 

• DDoS attacks (Distributed Denial of Service): These involve overwhelming a target, such as a website or server, with a flood of internet traffic. The goal is to render the service unavailable to legitimate users. 

• Password attack: There are various types, including brute force attacks, where attackers try every possible combination, and dictionary attacks, where common passwords and phrases are used. 

• SQL injection attack: This happens when an attacker executes malicious SQL queries on a database through a vulnerable application or website input field, potentially gaining access to confidential data or altering the database.  

Understanding brand communication security 

Brand communication security is a strategy to keep your brand's messaging consistent, reliable, and protected from cyberthreats. It's important to differentiate between internal and external communication channels, as each has its own challenges. 

Internal vs. external communication channels 

Internal communication channels refer to the systems and platforms used within an organization. These include business email, intranets, and instant messaging tools like Slack. While these channels facilitate effective collaboration, they also pose risks, such as unauthorized access and data breaches. 

On the other hand, external communication channels involve interactions with customers, partners, and the public. These can include social media, customer support emails, and newsletters. The risks here involve phishing attacks, impersonation, and message interception. 

Both internal and external channels require robust security measures to avoid potential pitfalls and support brand consistency. 

5 key IT strategies for protecting your brand communications 

With all this in mind, implementing strong IT strategies is the key to safeguarding your brand communication. These strategies ensure the security of communication channels, protect sensitive information, and maintain consistent messaging. 

1. Securing communication channels 

Encryption plays a vital role in safeguarding emails and messaging platforms, serving as the primary defense against unauthorized access. By encrypting communications, only intended recipients can read the messages. This process involves converting the original message into a coded format, only accessible with the correct decryption key. 

Alongside encryption, secure authentication is crucial for protecting communication channels. Multi-factor authentication boosts security by requiring multiple identity checks, like entering a password, answering a security question, or using a one-time code. These steps greatly reduce the risk of unauthorized access and enhance your communication security. 

2. Protecting sensitive information 

Sensitive information, such as customer data, financial details, and confidential business documents, must be protected at all costs.

By categorizing data based on its sensitivity level, you can implement appropriate access controls and monitoring. This means only authorized personnel can access specific information, reducing the risk of data leaks. 

3. Ensuring consistent messaging across platforms 

Unified communication (UC) management tools like Zoom or WebEx are crucial for keeping messaging consistent across all platforms. They allow for centralized control, making sure messages align with your brand's values and goals. Regular audits and updates are needed to keep communications consistent and up to date with any branding or messaging strategy changes. 

4. Enforce email signature security 

Email signature security is often overlooked, yet it's crucial for protecting against phishing, spoofing, and ransomware. These signatures hold personal details like names and contact information, which, if unsecured, could be exposed to unauthorized parties.

By implementing a secure email signature management solution, businesses can ensure consistent and secure signatures for all employees. 

5. Have a response plan in place 

Even with all necessary precautions, the risk of a security breach persists due to the complexity of cyberthreats. That's why you need to have a clear response plan in place to reduce damage and quickly resume operations.  

The plan should include notifying authorities for legal compliance, investigating the breach to find its source and extent, and informing employees, customers, and partners to maintain transparency and trust. It should also cover communication strategies, data recovery, and system updates to improve security and prevent future problems. 

Best practices for implementing IT strategies to protect brand communication 

Now you know what you need to put in place, let’s look at how to actually implement these IT strategies with these best practices: 

Regularly monitor and update IT infrastructure 

Regular risk assessments and quickly addressing vulnerabilities are key to keeping your IT infrastructure secure. Spotting risks early helps you deal with them before they become big problems. 

Monitoring and updating your IT infrastructure regularly can reduce threats like malware and hacking attempts, ensuring your brand communications stay intact. 

Stay updated on the latest security threats and trends 

Cybersecurity is always changing, so keeping up with the latest threats and trends is vital. Cybercriminals are continually updating their tactics, using advanced technologies and sophisticated strategies to break through security defenses.  

It's important to stay informed about the newest developments in cybersecurity, including new threat detection tools, innovative protection measures, and industry best practices.  

Conduct regular security training for employees 

A company's security is only as strong as its weakest link, often its employees. Educating them about potential risks and prevention is crucial for fostering a secure organizational culture. By increasing awareness and teaching employees how to recognize cyberthreats, you can reduce vulnerabilities and protect sensitive information. 

Regular security training should cover key topics such as effective password management, identifying phishing scams, and proper data handling. Incorporating real-life examples and interactive activities can also help improve understanding and retention. 

Partner with trusted cybersecurity experts 

Working with trusted cybersecurity experts gives you valuable insights into your organization's system security.  

By understanding your business needs, they can recommend solutions to protect your brand communication, keeping your data and interactions safe. With their help, you can create a strong defense strategy that protects your assets and improves your overall security. 

The role of Exclaimer in email signature security and brand protection 

Exclaimer is a powerful solution that can significantly improve email signature security for your organization. By centrally managing email signatures, you can ensures all communications align with your brand's visual and legal standards. 

Exclaimer's platform enables quick company-wide updates to email signatures, ensuring regulatory compliance and consistent branding. This means a professional image on every message, protection against common email cyberthreats, and the enforcement of disclaimers to support compliance. 

Safeguard your brand on all business emails by getting a free trial or signing up for an online demo of Exclaimer today.