Data security keeps your HOA safe and secure by ensuring your community doesn’t experience any data breaches. Poneman Institute’s survey revealed that 58% of small-to-mid-size businesses experienced a data breach in 2018.
HOAs are especially vulnerable to data breaches, since many hackers know that they possess fewer resources to block and protect their data.
The easiest solution is to protect your HOA’s data by partnering with a company that offers extensive protection from unsavory third parties.
JellyBird HOA can help! To give you a clearer picture of how we protect our customer’s data, here are a few of the strategies we employ:
We use military grade encryption (128-Bit Encryption) software to protect every file on our servers
It would take a hacker years to unencrypt our systems and require specialized cryptographic software to do so.
As anyone who has ever worked with financial data knows, confidentiality is the cornerstone of data security. It’s important to partner with providers who are willing to invest in the best technology out there to ensure your information remains confidential.
We use a cloud-based, off-site network
We also combine this cloud-based network with enterprise-class ant-virus software and monitored Meraki network hardware.
These aren’t the only protections we have in place to protect your data. We also:
- Stack multiple enterprise level cloud security programs on top of other programs to heighten our security.
- Use CINC Systems. This third-party (also cloud-based) ERP system has also implemented a two-factor authentication system.
- Utilize a cloud-accessible, firewall-protected share drive.
With these protections in place, our employees are able to enjoy a hybrid work model (part in-office work and part work from home) and still keep data safe.
Website hosting is another key element of our data security strategy
With website hosting, we’re able to leverage data center-based servers, phone systems, and a proprietary firewall in order to identify which traffic is allowed.
We also use website hosting (via disk write protection and limitations) to make sure your information isn’t tampered with. To further protect your data from getting lost, we use secure backups.
Finally, we never store credit card information. We’ve opted to use a third-party, PCI-compliant payment processor vendor. This keeps your data where it’s most safe and gives you and your homeowners the most protection against fraud and theft that we can currently offer.
By engaging in cutting-edge website hosting, we can offer you peace of mind that your data is being well-taken care of.
We have adopted an industry-leading SSO, OKTA, and use it throughout our organization
An enterprise-grade, single-sign-on software, OKTA reinforces the importance password protection.
Using OKTA protects your data by:
- Ensuring that only a company’s verified and validated employees can access its applications.
- Running on a secure, reliable, and extensively audited platform.
- Creating a highly secure, completely randomized password combination for every program.
- Enforcing a two-factor verification check if the employee is outside of our secure zones (i.e., not in the office).
Everyone who spends time in the cybersecurity industry knows that the entire purpose of cybersecurity efforts is to prevent outsiders from getting in. OKTA is one of the most efficient strategies we employ to keep outsiders out. We even have OKTA set up to block all interactions with countries that we do not do business with.
In any organization, the greatest resource for data security is the people
The greatest software and hardware on the market provide little protection if people within the organization do not use them properly.
In order to keep our people aware of the importance of utilizing these features, we employ the following strategies:
- Build awareness extensively on the importance of data security and what they can do to prevent information from getting into the wrong hands.
- Require new employees to pass a mandatory security awareness training module. This module covers cyber risks and provides additional defense against hackers, particularly regarding malicious software.
- Work closely with our partner (and sister company) Boardline Academy, to create training material that teaches data security best practices.
- Email employees regularly for the sole purpose of educating our workforce on email best practices and what phishing attacks look like.
- Employ backup layers of user-level monitoring, on an as-needed basis.
We consider our educational efforts to be the greatest protective measure in safeguarding the data we employ, and as such, we take cybersecurity education seriously so information doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
While we can’t guarantee that we will never experience a data breach or make cyber-security-related mistakes, we can promise that we will continue to do everything within our resources to provide our customers with the very best protection.
We believe that we stand well above the competition. If you think JellyBird could be the right fit for your HOA,
please consider getting a bid.
Are you ready to be part of your HOA Board? We offer free webinars. Visit Boardline Academy today!
