CCoE detects cutting-edge cyber protection – MessageMatrix
One of the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE) aims is to find and bring cutting-edge cyber security solutions to the wider market, making military-grade protection available to all organisations through collective purchasing power.
The cyber security market is crowded, with many vendors making similar claims. To help officers and members secure the best protection, the CCoE Advisory Board continually reviews and assesses new cyber security providers and tools on the market with the aim of raising awareness of these best-in-class solutions and offering access to them through preferential rates. Since the CCoE launch, a few providers have been identified as offering gamechanging solutions for cyber security: Blackwired, MessageMatrix and FractalScan Surface.
MessageMatrix
WhatsApp is the most-used mobile messaging app worldwide with an estimated two billion active users. With most clients and colleagues using the platform, conducting business matters over WhatsApp is tempting, however doing so may expose an organisation to multiple security risks. With bulging email inboxes and the general expectation of instant responses it is hardly surprising many employees take to WhatsApp for work purposes. While WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, the platform still exposes an organisation and its employees to risks. For example, there is a possibility the app could be hacked whilst using public wi-fi networks or being targeted by or forwarded messages through human error containing malware which could penetrate a mobile device and steal or corrupt data. There is also the risk of information being widely shared and passed on to unintended recipients and of sensitive business information being held on private channels which are lost if the employee leaves.
A Government department recently found itself being reprimanded by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for its use of private messaging channels, including WhatsApp, and the CCoE is aware that some councils are now moving to ban the use of this popular messaging platform due to security concerns. In the US, several major organisations have recently been fined large sums for using the platform due to lack of compliance with industry record-keeping rules.
An ICO report in 2021 called on Government to review the use of private correspondence channels after they were found to be used by Government ministers during the pandemic. The report highlighted the risk of sensitive information being held on outside servers and the related risk of inadequate data security. John Edwards, the UK Information Commissioner, said: “Public officials should be able to show their workings, for both record keeping purposes and to maintain public confidence.”
The reprimand issued by the ICO to the Department of Health and Social Care stated that the department and other public bodies should not send information containing personal data using private communication channels due to lack of compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act.
Aware of these risks and of the temptation to use private messaging for ease and speed, one of the tools the CCoE is offering preferential rates for through its combined purchasing is an innovative solution called MessageMatrix.
The platform takes WhatsApp and SMS messaging and wraps it in a secure platform which allows employees to message clients through these applications without comprising their own or the organisation’s security. Beyond offering a secure way to interact and store sensitive information, staff members can bring colleagues into the conversation without surrendering their contact details. In addition, if a staff member leaves the organisation, the data remains in the secure platform to enable other colleagues to take forward relevant projects. Understanding data security is key, MessageMatrix has partnered with Glasswall, a company which enables ultra-secure document sharing. Users can also voice and video call through the platform.
“The indisputable fact is that people are using WhatsApp in their professional as well as their personal lives because it convenient and faster than sending an email which might not be responded to quickly. This is problematic for them and their employers. It means there is communication which cannot be captured, monitored, or audited for meeting the standards of the organisation,” explained Douglas Orr, Founder and CEO of MessageMatrix, “There is a fundamental desire to provide a service over WhatsApp and that conflicts with the tools organisations currently have. MessageMatrix allows us to bring the best of an organisation’s people and processes to a client without compromising the security, privacy and control of that process.”
Using the example of a social care client, Orr explains how using MessageMatrix might benefit the client whilst keeping their personal information and the details of staff secure. “You know that no matter how little they have left in the world, most clients probably still have a mobile phone with WhatsApp installed. Through this you can facilitate services and give them a case worker or team of case workers. They may have various issues, such as needing emergency shelter, and through the platform you can add someone from this team to the conversation, or even colleagues from partner organisations, such as charities. The whole backstory is there to see, they don’t need retell the whole story,” he explained. Multiple switchboards can be created for different services within an organisation, such as council tax, parking fines and benefits, for example.
“The world we are trying to enable is engagement with controlled security. We think the CCoE is a very valuable organisation which can co-ordinate the purchasing of innovative technology such as MessageMatrix which might otherwise be out of reach of public services.”
For more information or for a demonstration of MessageMatrix visit www.messagematrix.io or contact enquiries@ccoe.wpenginepowered.com.
