Data Security for Economic Development Organizations
By now, it’s obvious: Work from home (WFH) is here to stay. The number of work from home employees has been trending upward for years. New COVID-19 regulations have accelerated the migration to this new business model. Now more than ever, data security needs to be a top priority for all organizations. EDOs, is no exception. EDOs depend on irreplaceable data: Company records; activity history, and project information. Loss of this data can be catastrophic, and result in loss of capital investment, jobs created, and jobs retained.
At the end of the day, security is the responsibility of IT. That said, there are steps that can mitigate potential threats for employees who work from home. Here are five, easy to implement, security precautions I recommend to all of my Salesforce for economic development clients.
Password Policies
No one wants to change their passwords. It’s not uncommon for individuals to use the same password for every application they use for years! EDOs using Salesforce are no exception. The solution to this one is easy. Configure Salesforce.com to require more frequent password updates (quarterly) while increasing the required number and type of characters.
Also, be sure to deactivate users who no longer need access to Salesforce.com. I have seen many examples of EDOs with active accounts for users who left the company two to three years ago. Your organization, and the previous employee, will be better off for it.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has been around in the banking and healthcare industries for some time. We are recommending that all of our economic development clients implement MFA. It is easily enabled in Salesforce.com. All that is required of Salesforce users is to enter a short code, sent by text or email when they log in.
User Privileges
One of the most often missed security risks is incorrectly configured user privileges. Economic developers have sensitive data that must remain confidential. Salesforce.com allows you to set your own security protocols at the user level. Controls include:
- Ensure only appropriate users have “view all data” permission
- Eliminate users’ ability to delete or export records
- Restrict access to the confidential project and investor data-specific data
These profile privileges can be quickly customized for any EDO using Salesforce.
Backup Your Data!
Incremental backups are a life raft for all economic development organizations and a must-have “insurance policy”. Salesforce backup procedures provide the following benefits:
- Restore data that had been inadvertently deleted or overwritten
- Mitigate the risk of ransomware. Including as much data as reasonable within Salesforce.com provides double redundancy. The file is available on-demand on Salesforce.com. It is also available in another secure location.
Data backups are absolutely necessary for all EDOs. It is inexpensive insurance for data loss and security risks.
The Conrin Solution
Conrin has been implementing Salesforce.com for economic developers since 2003 and has clients across 27 states and provinces. Years of industry knowledge, technology experience, and effective rollout management make Conrin uniquely qualified to deliver an exceptional solution that will meet client needs for years to come.
At Conrin, we’ll help you find the right tools to grow. We don’t overbuild, oversell, or put processes into place that aren’t meant for you. It’s about you, and it’s built for you. With Conrin, customer relationship management really can be that simple.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re ready to get started and learn more about how CRM can benefit your organization, contact Conrin today!
Economic Development data security is so important, Conrin offers a complimentary security audit. For more information, contact Todd at 616-897-4325 or via email at [email protected]. We have a long standing relationship with salesforce.com.
