Secure Board Communication and Cybersecurity Best Practices

Effective communication among board members is essential to ensure that directors make informed decisions and are involved. Boards must face the challenge of finding a balance between the need for effective communication and the need to protect sensitive information and prevent cyberattacks.

Boards should make use of secure collaboration tools like board portals and messaging platforms that are real-time to keep his explanation discussions as well as sensitive documents and data secure. This is becoming more important as more businesses are impacted by breaches and hacks and regulators introduce new security standards.

Security experts from the field say it’s not an issue of “if” or “when “when” an organization is likely to be the victim of a data breach. A successful cybersecurity plan includes an effective board relationship with the chief information security officer (CISO). CISOs must take advantage of every opportunity to share their vision and strategy with the board. This will enable them gain board support to provide more effective cyberattack responses.

Many board members and experts in governance use their personal email accounts to send out internal communications, especially during virtual meetings. This practice puts organizations at greater threat of phishing attacks and other cyberattacks targeting high-profile people like directors, C-level executives, and other senior management personnel.

It is essential to train your board members on the importance of cybersecurity. This should include a review of the data they share through insecure channels like meeting minutes or informal communications. It is also important to utilize secure document sharing platforms that offers encryption as well access controls to prevent documents being copied or downloaded from third organizations.