Manage Data Security and Compliance Across Your Customer Service Operation.
Maintaining trust is crucial for a strong brand reputation. Data breaches and non-compliance can quickly damage that trust, damaging your reputation and incurring additional costs. To safeguard your organization’s data and customer data, and ensure compliance throughout your customer service operations, it’s important to establish and adhere to appropriate security and compliance measures.


Given The High Stakes, Maintaining Data Security Requires Constant Attention
Many business data breaches require public disclosure, which can harm a company's reputation and financial stability. The average cost of a data breach is $3.86 million, according to IBM research. The events of 2020, with the shift towards remote work and online shopping, as well as increased stress from the COVID-19 pandemic, created a prime environment for cybercrime. As a result, cybercriminals focused more on targeted attacks such as ransomware and phishing, rather than broad attacks.
Phishing, ransomware, and malware were the primary causes of publicly reported data breaches in the U.S. in 2020, making up over 70% of all cyberattacks. This highlights the importance of businesses to focus on four key areas of data security and compliance in their customer service operations to mitigate the risk of a breach.


Establish Written Guidelines and Protocols
Having well-documented policies and procedures ensures consistency and eliminates uncertainty across teams, locations, and regions. This is the foundation for improved data security and compliance. The guidelines should be written in a clear and easily understandable language, covering both remote agents and traditional contact center operations. They should explain the reasons for specific actions, the steps to be taken, and the risks associated with non-compliance. The policies should also outline how compliance is monitored and the consequences for non-compliance.
Contact centers need to follow various security standards such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), and System and Organization Controls (SOC) certifications. When working with a third-party service provider for your contact center, ensure their policies and procedures align with yours and meet your specific requirements. For example, in the US, healthcare organizations need to comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations and those managing collections activities must adhere to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)


Adhere To Laws and Regulations
Rules and regulations vary by location and jurisdiction. To ensure compliance, it's essential to understand the requirements of each area in which you operate. Outsourcing partners can assist in complying with regulations across different markets and staying current with changing legislation. Failing to comply with do-not-call lists can result in significant fines, for example, organizations that illegally call numbers on the U.S. National Do Not Call Registry can be fined up to $42,530 per call.
Contact centers handle a significant amount of customer data, which enables personalized targeting and strong relationships. However, it is also vital to secure and protect this data to maintain customer privacy. While Europe has a standard data privacy and security law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the U.S. does not have a federal law on this matter. This leaves each state to establish their own laws, and organizations with the responsibility to comply with different regulations as individual states roll out their own laws.


Provide Continuous Training
With an increased focus on phishing attacks by cybercriminals, it's crucial to ensure that your customer service staff are aware of the threat and prepared to respond. Regular and recurring training sessions can keep potential scams top-of-mind, while planned simulated phishing attacks by internal teams can test adherence to policies and procedures and identify any weak points that need additional attention.
While financial information is often the target of cybercriminals, according to Symantec data, 96% of social engineering attacks are motivated by intelligence gathering. This highlights the importance of monitoring your customer service operations to ensure that agents do not disclose personal information, such as security question answers, which can be used to access accounts elsewhere. This is particularly concerning as 65% of US consumers admit to using the same login information across multiple accounts.


Utilize Tools and Technology Efficiently
Tools and technology play a crucial role in defending against cybercriminals and malicious actors.
As the risk of data breaches increases, so do the tools, technologies, and protocols available to protect your brand reputation and secure your sensitive data.
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