Freely subscribe to our NEWSLETTER

In today’s digital age, it is undeniable that organisations need to find a way to effectively address this threat, without hurting sales or the customer/citizen experience. An automation platform equipped with low-code, robotic process automation and machine learning, has the capabilities to meet these needs whilst protecting reputations, finances and customers in the process.

Recognising your weakest link

Whilst your employees may be the driving force behind your organisation, when it comes to fraud prevention and cybersecurity, they can be your weakest link. In our fast-paced world, humans can fall prey to reading quickly and thinking slowly. Many of us process upwards of a hundred messages daily, between texts, emails and social media interactions. With this information overload, it can be easy to go on autopilot, which has the effect of shutting down critical thinking and making you susceptible to fraudsters’ scams. You may think you would never fall prey to a fraud attempt – but that’s part of the problem. We tend to think these things will never happen to us, making us even more unlikely to notice when suspicious activity arises.

Imagine your company’s accounts team gets hacked and, after scanning through their previously sent emails, the hackers know how to word an email to convince you it’s really them. Or you receive an email from a familiar address, but only the third to last letter has been changed. Are you sure you’re going to notice these nuances when you’re completely unsuspecting and your guard is down? There’s a reason phishing is one of the most common types of cyberattack.

How low-code can strengthen your security chain

How do organisations get around this? Email seems essential to any business or organisation today. But it’s not email in and of itself that is critical, but digital communication. So, the simple solution is to take the conversation off email.

This can be achieved by developing a low-code application. The drag and drop ease of low-code means your organisation can easily develop an application for messaging and sharing files. Such an application removes the opportunity for a cybercriminal to target your employees.

Of course, emails will still be needed in some capacity since messages from people outside the organisation will not be able to go through an application. These emails are accompanied by inherent security risks, for example, the possibility of phishing links. However, an employee should be taught to expect relevant links from co-workers to be sent via the low-code application. For emails, complementary training should make them cautious with such messages and any attachments or links they may include.

Any measures taken should be supported by educational training that teaches employees about best practices and what to look out for in case of a scam. For example, internal policies that require employees to only disclose personal or financial information through a company portal, which can be created using a low-code platform, greatly reduce the chances that they’ll share this information over email.

A portal not only protects organisations and their employees, but it also protects those they service. For instance, if a patient wants to enter health data for their doctor or check their test results from the hospital, they can do so via a patient portal without concern over the security of their information.

Lowering the barrier to security

Organisations are investing more and more in cybersecurity. With low-code, they can lower the barrier to implementing an effective security system. That’s because low-code allows secure applications to be developed quickly and in-house by non-coding developers, creating a cost-effective solution. This is an important consideration for cybersecurity teams whose budgets often sit within other departments.

Any low-code solution should include control and governance features that allow the central IT team to maintain oversight – since in-house low-code developers may not have the knowledge to ensure security measures are upheld. With the right solution, IT can ensure governance is maintained by overseeing application development, controlling access, etc.

Low-code also facilitates iterative development, meaning that organisations can adapt their applications to accommodate changing circumstances or security needs.

Fortifying security with RPA and ML

Organisations’ cybersecurity network can be further fortified by combining low-code with robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning (ML). RPA helps organisations overcome the lack of critical thinking involved when we’re quickly skimming through emails by ensuring exact character matches and aligning information with previously determined criteria. Employees can then go through any emails that are ’caught’ through this system. Because these emails have been flagged, employees will tend to review them with a more cautious eye.

Machine learning is especially helpful when high volumes of information are involved, such as with healthcare organisations, local councils or corporations. It can use that vast data to identify patterns and provide predictions on security trends.

With RPA and ML offered in tandem with low-code through a single, easily integrated, platform, organisations can more seamlessly develop a secure infrastructure, as these advanced technologies work together to optimise security.

Security without sacrifice

It is often the case that enhancing security is a trade-off against revenue and customer experience. If an organisation focuses solely on security, processes are slowed. This hinders productivity and customer experience and promotes customer churn. Conversely, if customer experience or revenue are the only priority, security tends to suffer.

But what if organisations didn’t have to choose across these three pillars of customer experience, security and revenue?

With the support of an automation platform, authentication measures can be automated. RPA automatically cross-checks information at rapid speeds, enabling swift security that supports customer satisfaction and high volumes of transactions or interactions.

Cybersecurity is an unavoidable issue in today’s world, so we need to establish ways to overcome the risk without sacrificing competitiveness or – most importantly – the safety and security of customers and employees. With an effective automation platform, sufficient security policies and procedures, and adequate training, stakeholders can rest-assured that their greatest security risk – human oversight – has been mitigated.