By Jane Sandwood

Many great Project Managers have the ability to juggle balls, lots of them. You’re there to see the threads, weave them, control them, and untangle them until the project is complete. One of the things which often flies under the radar somewhat among all that information and competing needs and issues, is cybersecurity. It’s worth looking at because the average data breach costs big business $4 million each.

Hacking the Cloud

Luckily, cybersecurity is one of those relatively easy things to remedy in a way because if the basics are done right, they can be carried through – often from project to project. That being said, cyber threats proliferate and mutate like the common cold, so regular re-checking and inoculating is required.

This kind of security is vital because in the 21st century workspaces are virtual. Employees, contractors, investors, and clients can all have varying degrees of access to information, ongoing projects, meeting spaces, shared documentation, and collaboration zones. This needs to not only be expertly organized but safe from prying eyes and thieving fingers.

11 Things you Need to Know

These hacks will show you 11 ways a Project Manager can ensure their cybersecurity is topnotch so they can get on with other aspects of the job:

1. Threats to cloud security might be overstated, but they do exist
2. Cloud security has vulnerabilities for a very good reason – without them sharing information would be impossible
3. This kind of cloud computing could be the riskiest yet
4. When combined with the Internet of Things (IoT), security gets much worse
5. Big cloud companies are taking it seriously – check out Google’s whitepaper for proof.
6. There’s virtually (pardon the pun) no difference between private and public cloud services
7. The biggest risk might be human error – just like any other kind of security, lazy passwords put your data on a plate
8. Research hybrid options which mix public and private solutions
9. The law will catch up with the technology, but the results might not be good
10. You can improve security by learning about SSL, TLS, AES, and improving encryption and two-factor authentication
11. The cloud is here for the foreseeable future

 

It sounds like a lot of work, but consult with an expert and look at a hybrid option which separates elements into public and private areas. Furthermore, ensure you have high quality passwords with no weak links, encryption, and two-factor authentication to minimize the risks. Do these things and one aspect of coordinating stakeholders will get easier.