Slack Introduced Encryption Key Add-on to Prevent Data Breaching

1. Slack Introduced Encryption Key Add-on to Prevent Data Breaching Written by ​Dhaval Patel Today, it is quite difficult for online tools and services to stay safe and protected in such a risky virtual environment. We often hear the news of the cyber-attacks, hacking and breaching of data, even from the biggest tech corporations. Hence, the founders of Slack Technologies has launched the Enterprise Key Management (EKM) to create an extra layer of protection to its customers’ data and privacy. Slack is one of the most powerful cloud-based collaboration messenger tools that almost every business uses nowadays. It has a base of around 6 million users on a daily basis. The company, Slack Technologies, has introduced an add-on feature for its Enterprise Grid version that protects the data and conversations of its clients. Notably, the keys will be managed by the AWS KSM Key Management Tool.

2. According to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Slack, Geoff Belknap, the Slack integration will now encourage those industries that require an additional layer of security such as the banks, financial services, government organizations and the health care sectors to use their services. He further said that such industries were in need of full control over their encryption key management for a while. This new key management system will not only provide them with full control over the encryption keys but also give them access to revoke their keys if and when requires. The company was working to create on this add-on feature for the past 15 months and finally launched the EKM feature on March 18, 2019.

3. Slack Protection Tips Some of the common and effective tips that will help users create a safe environment for businesses include: ● Defining the Roles of Group Admins One of the major roles in data and privacy-breaching is the negligence of the Slack groups’ admins. In an organization, many employees hire and leave the company over a period of one year. Hence, Slack groups’ admins must be informed about the employees’ joining and releasing from the company. This way, the group admin will be accountable for adding or removing the people that are either no more associated with the company or have joined the organization recently. This is among the healthiest ways to retain the access of the company’s confidential data and information from the potential threats. ● Third Party Applications Access There are a number of third-party applications that often require permission to the clients’ personal data and information. Hence, Slack users must be aware of the potential apps they are providing access to. However, the safer approach would be to not give such apps the access over the personal data whatsoever. ● Hacking and Vulnerability The internet is full of threats and bugs that often attack the personal information and data of the individuals and organizations for their own benefits. Hence, Slack users must use the updated tools and software that reduce the chances of any potential cyber attacks. Furthermore, Slack users must have upgraded anti-virus software and other security tools to create a safe network for the system.