Ensuring customer data is protected

In a recent case, a super fund customer checking their balance online discovered a security flaw in which he was able to access other customers’ personal details. Although the customer confidentially disclosed this vulnerability to the super fund and the problem was immediately rectified, the ramifications of this may have been disastrous had a malicious hacker made the same discovery. So how can organisations ensure their customer data is protected?

“One of the greatest threats to any business is any form of security violation, whether it be physical or digital,” commented Kareem Tawansi, CEO of software development provider, Solentive Software.

“Protecting against a digital invasion is an area that many organisations spend a lot of resources on. When developing software in particular, it would be wise to use multiple collections of people to test an application. For example, employing internal and external testing resources including hiring hacking experts will ensure that the application has been thoroughly tested for any security vulnerability,” advised Kareem.

“Safeguarding against a digital intrusion involves ensuring that security holes do not line-up. Having a heterogeneous set of people to test an application will guarantee protection from a malicious hacker penetrating the system. The more diverse the teams of testers are, the less chance of these holes lining-up once the system is in production,” concluded Kareem.