Vinayak P, Author at Akku

BYOD Security & Compliance: How Akku’s Device-Based Access Controls Protect Your Data

A staggering 82% of organizations now have a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program in place, with 68% reporting a boost in productivity after making the switch. Also, companies that adopt BYOD smartphones can save up to $341 per employee. However, with these advantages comes risk — data loss remains the top concern for organizations, especially with stats showing about 50% of employees fail to change their passwords after a data breach.

It’s clear these risks need to be addressed, a solution that incorporates device-based access controls along with necessary security to protect data while maintaining the flexibility of BYOD.

So what are the key security challenges in a BYOD world?

1. Data leaks

Personal devices are more prone to data breaches, as sensitive information may accidentally or intentionally be shared with unauthorized individuals. Reports are that the major security barriers include data leakage or loss (62%), downloading unsafe apps (54%), and stolen devices (53%). Despite these concerns, many organizations are still blind to the risks, with 49% unsure if malware has compromised their networks via BYOD.

2. Lost or stolen devices

When a device containing corporate data is lost or stolen, it poses a serious risk, as unauthorized users could gain access to critical information. Stats show that though 70% of BYOD applies to employees, other groups such as contractors (26%), partners (21%), customers (18%), and suppliers (14%) also access corporate networks, raising the stakes.

3. Malware and virus threats

Personal devices are not always equipped with the same level of security as company-issued ones, making them vulnerable to malware and viruses, which could compromise data integrity. Microsoft’s Digital Defense Report 2023 says BYOD should stand for “bring your own disaster” and reveals that about 90% of ransomware attacks in the past year stemmed from unmanaged devices, typically personal gadgets brought in from home that lack sufficient security protections. With global ransomware attacks skyrocketing by more than 200%, organizations adopting BYOD policies are unwittingly exposing their networks to substantial risks.

Akku’s device-based access controls

With Akku Access Manager, admins can easily whitelist approved devices, so only authorized devices like company-owned laptops or specific mobile devices can access your organization’s applications.

How does it work?

The Akku Agent is installed on the device to be whitelisted, similar to how you would install any other app
The Akku Agent authenticates the user account details to be activated
It then captures the device’s serial number and securely stores it on Akku’s server, linked to the user’s account
Each time the user attempts to log in, Akku compares the device’s serial number with the list of approved devices associated with that user
If the serial number matches, the user is granted access
If the user tries to log in from an unapproved device, access is denied

This system ensures that only trusted devices gain access to the company’s network, reducing the risks of unauthorized logins and data breaches.

With a device-based access control implemented, here’s how Akku protects your data.

1. Device authentication

Akku’s access controls ensure that only devices that meet your organization’s security criteria are permitted to access the network. For example, Akku uses an agent to grab the serial number and BIOS UUID from each user’s device, linking it to their profile. This makes sure that only the devices registered to a specific user can access their account.

2. Access controls and compliance

The BYOD policy should clearly define the permitted and prohibited use of personal devices within the workplace. It must also cover security, privacy concerns, and potential liabilities in case of breaches. With Akku Access Manager, admins can also set time limits for when users can access your organization’s apps. This feature makes sure that access is only allowed during certain time windows, adding another layer of security and control.

3. Real-time monitoring and reporting

Smart Analytics in Akku Access Manager keeps track of both successful and failed login attempts. It logs who’s trying to access which apps, along with details like the time, location, and authentication methods used. You also get insights into which AMFA checks are triggered most often, helping you prioritize those factors to make the login experience smoother for users. And it’s all in real-time.

It is time to take control of your BYOD security, compliance, and monitoring. Explore how Akku’s device-based access controls can protect your data!

HR productivity being sapped by On- and Off-boarding, L&D, and Compliance? An IAM could be what’s missing.

The synergy between Identity and Access Management (IAM) and IT, cybersecurity, and admin departments of an organization is obvious, but another department in an enterprise that is equally advantaged by IAM is Human Resources. You see, IAM doesn’t just help keep the bad guys out. It works to make life easier for the good guys as well.

HR is already challenged by large and scattered workforces – a scenario accelerated by the pandemic – and therefore having a framework of business processes, policies, and technologies can facilitate better management of employees. To a large extent, this is exactly what an IAM does.

Here are four ways IAM can help with Human Resources.

1. Seamless Employee On-boarding/Off-boarding

IAM facilitates automated and monitored on-boarding and off-boarding of employees in several ways. An important part of how this is achieved is that during the provisioning process an IAM creates a single account for each user, to which you can assign access to all necessary apps.

What would otherwise take HR days can now be done in minutes – which means that employees can hit the ground running on their first day, turning new hires into productive members of the team faster than ever. Also, IAM ensures employees only have the permissions they need, helping maintain security.

The off-boarding transition too is faster as deprovisioning is automated by IAM, and keeps the organization safe from unauthorized access to applications and data by former employees. This can go a long way in ensuring privacy and security.

Without a centralized IAM system, provisioning and deprovisioning need to be done manually, which means a longer time for employees to gain productivity, and also longer before employees are removed from the organization’s system, leaving the door open to security risks.

2. Efficient Learning and Development

IAM is all bringing all users onto a common platform for easier management. This basic concept lends itself perfectly to also delivering communication and training to all employees across the organization through the same system.

It is easier to roll out mandatory training content through the IAM dashboard to employees who are registered on the IAM, and track progress. Content too can be tailormade for employees based on their function or department. The IAM can therefore replace a Learning Management System in the roll-out of several types of communication or training.

3. Improved Employee Relations

Human Resources today are dealing with an increasingly distributed workforce – this has its upsides, but also cuts employees off from a traditional office setting. So, how do you work on improving those relationships, maintaining a consistent experience for employees connecting to corporate resources from across the country or world, and without sacrificing security?

Just as with the roll-out of mandatory training, an IAM is an ideal platform to also roll-out messages, announcements and notices to employees across the organization. New members can be assisted with orientation and find their feet faster with the smooth onboarding process that an IAM enables. And even little things like simplifying admin issues – such as forgotten passwords or a simple, pain-free addition of required access permissions – can make operations much smoother for every member of the team.

4. Comprehensive Documentation and Compliance

A strong IAM solution can support compliance with regulatory standards, automate audit reporting and simplify processes for regulatory conformance. Detailed and comprehensive logging is a big part of this.

Maintaining verifiable proof of consumption of critical communications and mandatory training by employees plays an important role in demonstrating compliance to standards. Additionally, custom-built forms for maintaining up-to-date documentation on team members ensure appropriate and accurate data on record at all times, while automated deprovisioning helps support an employee’s right to be forgotten.

Security, productivity, and compliance – the right IAM, like Akku, can build and enforce both of these organization-wide for HR departments across industries. We’d love to tell you more about it. Contact us today for a consultation.

The twin benefits of IAM: Streamlining compliance processes and security

Process reliability, transparency, traceability, and flexibility – the four aspects of modern IT security. An Identity and Access Management solution (IAM) is the foundation for all four.

IAM plays an important role in regulatory compliance. To achieve certifications like ISO and meet standards such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an enterprise needs to ensure strong documentation and process standardization, provided for by a robust IAM program. With live data and analytics from the IAM, you can confirm you are standards-compliant, any time. You don’t need to scramble for documentation at audit time.

The right IAM provides availability of information and automated security measures result in faster processing, compliance with legal regulations, fewer violations, and reduced vulnerability. Here’s what to look for when selecting your IAM solution provider.

Are the access logs being maintained?

Maintaining logs ensures that no one accesses the server without being accounted for. With the right IAM, such as Akku, every entry to the data host server, and every server activity, is accounted for with timestamps.

Akku ensures double security and accountability. If an Akku executive needs server access, your IT admin will receive an OTP for authentication; both need to be logged on simultaneously for access by either. It applies the principles of ‘zero trust’ or ‘least privilege’, wherein all traffic is authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated at all times.

Are you receiving instant alerts?

The GDPR requires that any information that can identify a person be protected – from their personal and contact details to their bank accounts and health records and even their political views. GDPR requires that all data breaches be reported within 72 hours. Your solution provider must enable you to do this. Akku, for instance, sends instant alerts upon encountering any suspicious activity.

Is your solutions provider enforcing password policies?

Passwords are integral to cybersecurity; they are an organization’s first line of defense. However, according to the 10th edition of the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 81% of hacking-related breaches leveraged stolen and/or weak passwords.

That’s why you need documented proof of strong passwords, and enforceable policies in place to make sure the passwords are indeed strong and secure. One solution is when the IAM’s default password policy is itself compliant with industry standards, as is the case with Akku. It can be further customized based on your organization’s compliance needs. If you need more information on this, do get in touch with the executives at Akku.

Are you “forgetting” employees the right way?

To comply with GDPR, you need to respect ex-employees’ “right to be forgotten”. Employee data can be stored only for a specific purpose. For instance, if you use an employee’s information for a seminar in April with their consent, you cannot use it again in December without their explicit consent. Also, there may be contractual or self-employed workers, and data protection regulation requires that you delete their data once they have left the organization. Since IAMs like Akku manage the entire user lifecycle, one-point deprovisioning and deletion of records makes this easy.

What about managing internal communication?

Certain employee training programs and surveys are mandatory for compliance with the various norms and laws. While it isn’t a standard feature in all IAMs, some solutions like Akku offer an internal messaging feature. Using this, videos and other content can be rolled out seamlessly for continuous learning.

Can you check app usage?

Does your IAM solution provider allow you to track all aspects of activity on your server environment? They ought to, as this gives you a better understanding of patterns of usage, actual utilization, and other useful information. Using this data, you can make decisions like whether you need to upgrade the server, increase or decrease the number of app licenses, and so on. Akku is one of the IAMs that provide this facility.

If you are looking at improving audit compliance and making standardization easier, it’s important to roll out an effective Identity and Access Management solution that works for your unique needs. Connect with Akku to learn more.

Healthcare Data, HIPAA Compliance, and Akku

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been effective in the USA since 1996.

The Act actually has five different section titles, namely Health Insurance Reform, Administrative Simplification, Tax-Related Health Provisions, Application and Enforcement of Group Health Plan Requirements, and Revenue Offsets – however, the mention of ‘HIPAA Compliance’ most often refers to compliance to the second title – Administration Simplification.

This is the most challenging aspect of the HIPAA Act, as it comes with strict regulations on protecting the data of patients in an industry that is often a major target for data breaches and malicious activity. Identity and access management across applications used in a healthcare facility, therefore, becomes critical to HIPAA compliance.

Here’s how Akku can help in ensuring data privacy and preventing both outsider and insider attacks on patient data, and, ultimately, compliance to HIPAA’s stringent regulations.

Protecting your data

Akku strengthens security around the login process by allowing you to set up and enforce a strong password policy as well as multi-factor authentication to reinforce password-based security
It also employs a custom salted-hash encryption methodology – a combination of salting and hashing techniques – for user credentials and data

Preventing unauthorized access

Akku allows you to exercise tight control over which users have access to what applications and data, so that access is not available to users who may not require it
It prevents accidental and malicious data breaches by allowing access to applications only from whitelisted network IP addresses and devices
The system also automatically blocks suspicious access attempts at abnormal times or from unexpected locations, and also enables the set up of time-based and location-based restrictions

Ensuring privacy and accountability

Every Akku implementation is set up independently in a separate server instance, so privacy on the cloud is ensured
Akku provides administrators with complete visibility by maintaining detailed logs maintained for every activity taking place across the apps and in the server

Beyond HIPAA

In addition to helping your healthcare facility become HIPAA compliant, Akku also makes it easy to set up integrations across your Hospital Information System (HIS), Lab Information System (LIS), Patient Management System (PMS) and more. This, in turn, improves collaboration between various departments and enhances overall productivity.

To know more about Akku’s complete set of features and their specific benefits to your facility, contact us today!

Why data breaches happen & what you can do to stop them

War seems to have taken a new form in the Information age. Large corporations have reported increased data breaches in the last couple of years and the number is all set to increase in 2019.

Continue reading Why data breaches happen & what you can do to stop them

A Step Closer to GDPR Compliance: A Strong Password Policy

The European Union enforced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018 with three main aims: to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower the data privacy of all EU citizens and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy. As you can see “data privacy” is the keyword in all three of the above mentioned aims. With multiple data breaches coming to light in the recent years, even from several of the world’s biggest corporates, the European Union has enforced stringent measures to regulate the use and prevent the misuse of citizens’ data through the GDPR.

Compliance and Consequences

As stated specifically in the GDPR, all enterprises (whether businesses or organizations) must take a “high level of protection of personal data” as one of their top priorities so that the “abuse or unlawful access or transfer” of such data may be prevented. If data is breached, or if GDPR procedures are compromised, the enterprise will face serious penalties. The fine for the non-compliance to GDPR for breach of data could be up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher, depending on the type and extent of the breach.

This applies not only to enterprises within the EU, but also to those that may be located outside and offer goods or services of any type to the EU. The GDPR rules also apply to cloud controllers and processors.

The Emphasis on Passwords

Interestingly, the GDPR does not place any direct regulations on the way passwords are created or used. However, when it comes to the protection of online data, it’s hard to argue against securing passwords being the logical first step. On the one side, businesses that provide access to customers through an online portal typically ensure that they are creating secure passwords to sign in to by enforcing password policies that define their length and other parameters.

However, the slip often occurs when the employees of these enterprises are allowed to create weak passwords for accessing in-house applications. What is often forgotten is that these applications also carry sensitive data that belong to both the enterprise and its customers. A compromise here can cost the enterprise more than just the data; it will cost its credibility as well.

A strong password policy, therefore, becomes a key first step in the path to GDPR compliance.

The Inevitability of a Password Policy

By enforcing a strong password policy, administrators can ensure that users of an enterprise’s applications set up and use only passwords that are secure and, therefore, much less susceptible to brute force attacks and other hacking attempts.

A password policy defines and enforces a set of rules that include the minimum length, acceptable combination of small and upper case letters, use of numbers and special characters, expiration period of passwords and so on.

Without a password policy, the administrators of an enterprise would have no control over the type of passwords their users set, and would have their hands tied when it comes to situations that lead to a data breach, making it hard to demonstrate the GDPR’s requirement of a “high level of protection of personal data”.

This makes a strong password policy a critical requirement for every on-premise as well as cloud-based application, both for data security and to work towards complying with this aspect of the GDPR.

The Hybrid and Multi Cloud Conundrum

Unfortunately, setting in place a password policy across all of an enterprise’s applications is much easier said than done.

Most enterprises use a wide range of applications across different platforms – both cloud-based and on-premise – with each application operating on different technologies and each with its own identity management and password policy, controlling how users set up passwords in each application can often be an expensive and time consuming process.

Implementing a common bridge layer across of the applications used by the enterprise in the form of an Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution to act as the identity provider (IdP) across all applications is the best way to overcome this challenge.

The Akku Solution

Akku is an identity and access management solution that integrates all of the on-premise and cloud-based applications of an enterprise, providing a single platform for administrators to control employee access, permissions, and levels of control within its different applications.

With Akku playing the role of the identity provider (IdP), it enables administrators to set up a single password policy that will instantly be applied to all of the applications that are accessed by a user at the workplace. This password policy holds good, irrespective of whether the application is on-premise or cloud-based, or across different platforms. Akku also allows for the secure resetting of passwords, as specified by GDPR standards. Besides password policy enforcement, Akku also utilizes a custom salted-hash function, users’ credentials are also encrypted to ensure a high level of security.

Want to explore a quick and hassle-free password policy implementation across your enterprise applications? Get in touch with us today at sales@akku.work