It is a legal requirement for organisations registered under the Data Protection Act (DPA) to formalise an information security standard that refers to specific policies and procedures used internally when handling information containing personal data. This standard is intended to help employees understand the sensitivity of information they handle and provide guidance as to how data should be stored or transmitted electronically when distributed externally with third parties.
Developing standards to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act can often feel like a daunting responsibility. Leverage membership organisations, such as the International Association of Accountants Innovation & Technology Consultants (IAAITC), offering independent advice and simple guidelines as part of an Information Security Framework (ISF).
Designed to help businesses categorise information and profile high risk areas, firms discover how to protect highly sensitive information such as client income, bank details, payroll data, or personal tax details.
Egress Switch provides a simple way for accountancy firms to protect sensitive information sent by email, uploaded to file servers, or burnt to CD/DVD. Leveraging hosted infrastructure to keep cost of ownership low, our integrated and customisable email addin is simple to use for both senders and recipients. Define policy standards centrally and enforce automatic encryption based on recipient or content. Prevent confidential information from accidentally falling into the wrong hands.
Processing client information, such as payroll or personal tax, remains one of the highest rated areas of risk for both client and firm involved. In the event of data loss, clients are often unaware that as the Data Controller they are eligible to be fined up to £500,000 by the ICO for breaching the Data Protection Act. How long does it take before clients look towards their ‘trusted advisors’ to recover these costs?
Using Egress Switch, business partners or clients can create and share encrypted email completely free of charge when exchanging confidential information with you. This new and exciting licensing model enables Switch subscribers to offer secure collaboration as a free service to their clients when sharing personal data with the firm.
"Anyone with access to Google and two minutes on their hands can break password protected files. Besides; this basic level of protection doesn't offer any assurance around who is accessing the data."
Dave Eagle, Head of IT, Withy King
"Having fully implemented Egress Switch, we now encourage all of our clients to communicate securely, protecting our practice from the SRA and our clients from the ICO."
Dave Eagle, Head of IT, Withy King
"Having fully implemented Egress Switch, we now encourage all of our clients to communicate securely. This way we guarantee the protection of our firm from the SRA and our clients from the ICO."
Dave Eagle, Head of IT, Withy King
