Protect Digital Files & Improve Data Security
Steps an independent insurance agency can take to protect critical client data
Moving deeper into the 21st Century, the power and speed of technology continues to be more and more awe inspiring. Things that weren’t even so much as dreamed of 30 years ago (internet, email, instant messaging and smart phones to name a few) are so ingrained in day to day life, most of us couldn’t live without them. Rows of filing cabinets have been replaced by digital document storage solutions. Data is scanned in, put on flash drives, stored on laptops and sent across the miles with a click of a button. In short, data security is getting more and more important.
As Uncle Ben told Peter Parker in Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility” – in this case the responsibility for increasing data security and protecting the digital files that contain your clients’ personal information.
Not only are there legal implications and potential fines if a data breach takes place, the negative publicity could potentially destroy your agency’s credibility.
Here are a few steps you can take to responsibly improve data security:
- If you don’t have a written data security plan and program in place, make it happen – soon. For advice on how to do so, read the Applied Council for Technology (ACT) Prototype Agency Information Security Plan that was released several years ago.
- Use Real Time to connect with carriers instead of sending sensitive information via email.
- Secure your email with TLS (Transport Layer Security) email encryption (See Jim Rogers’ Protect Your Clients with Secure Email Using TLS for more information).
- Take advantage of a fully hosted agency management system like Partner XE to get the information off of your easily accessible office server and into a cloud based environment with around the clock physical security, internet and server firewall protection, encrypted communications and secure logons, malware protection and automatic weekly security patch updates.
- Talk to an SIS representative to find out more about the other security benefits of Partner XE.
When you choose Partner XE, SIS’ fully hosted insurance agency management system, you not only enjoy lower more predictable costs, you also get peace of mind knowing you have taken a big step towards responsibly protecting your clients’ confidential information.
Find out why so many agencies have been switching to Partner XE insurance agency management system from SIS. Call 800-747-9273 or click here to get in touch with a representative.
