“Fraud prevention is one of the critical business challenges to which information security controls can add value, as ineffective information security controls can lead to growth in fraudulent activities. Confidentiality, integrity, and availability are the three critical principles of security exploited during such cases,” says Aseel AlFehaid, Data Protection and Privacy Director.
In this interview, Aseel talks about the importance of privacy by design for data architecture, how automation can aid in streamlining processes and how to structure effective training programs for data professionals.
Excerpts from the interview:
What are some key aspects while using automation to streamline process-heavy customer journeys?
There are several benefits to inculcating automation within processes. It boosts efficiency, agility, and productivity across the organisation by removing unnecessary steps and expediting the process. It can also enhance process quality by eliminating human error and ensuring control over the process. Such accountability enables smooth project delivery that can improve communication coordination among the teams within the organisation.
In my opinion, one should consider the following important steps:
- The first step is to examine and catalogue the current processes. It is essential to list each step for performing a deep analysis and understanding how different business processes work. Doing so will help find opportunities for improvement.
- The next step is to break the processes down into smaller functions. This is important as the more the workflow is simplified, the better the chances of streamlining the entire business process. After that, we need to prioritise the organisation’s processes in relation to our businesses and serving the customers better.
- Maintaining documentation is another essential aspect, so we need to ensure to document each step. Documenting the process provides evidence and details on how it took place.
- Before automating the workflows, testing is crucial. It ensures that everything is working correctly, protected, and can be implemented in the following workflow.
Proper segregation of duties associated with multiple checks can aid in incident response plans if fraudulent activities occur.Developing proper training and awareness to educate the employees and the customers on avoiding fraudulent activities is essential.
What are a few detection methods that can be used to understand fraudulent activities?
Fraud prevention is one of the critical business challenges to which information security controls can add value, as ineffective information security controls can sometimes lead to fraud. The basic principles of security exploited are generally confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Security controls can be divided into five main categories:
- Preventive controls are measures that can prevent the incident from occurring beforehand.
- Detective controls attempt to detect incidents after or when they occur.
- Corrective controls can reverse the incident’s impact and stop fraudster individuals from causing further damage.
- Deterrent controls are used to discourage would-be attackers or malicious insiders, such as locks, security guards, surveillance cameras, anti-malware or firewalls.
- Compensatory controls provide alternative controls that compensate for primary control, therefore enhancing security.
But how can we link security controls to prevent fraud?
- Ensure and align the information security programs with the activities. Conducting fraud risk assessments from an information security context can aid in proactive monitoring and detective measures to predict fraudulent activities.
- Formulating use cases is another crucial method that can be implemented by collecting intelligence through internal and external sources of information to detect potential fraud promptly. We also need to ensure proper access management and that only authorised individuals can access the data.
- Proper segregation of duties associated with multiple checks can aid in incident response plans if fraudulent activities occur.
- Developing proper training and awareness to educate the employees and the customers on avoiding fraudulent activities is essential.
What kind of training programmes can organisations use to keep their workforce alert and quick to act in the face of a breach?
It’s essential to have a training program that imbibes critical awareness among employees. Knowing how to protect yourself through sophisticated methods helps you beware of what to do in certain situations. So it is essential to design the program such that every employee understands their unique role during incidents. This can include either conducting workshops or personalised and targeted training for specific groups.
Key pillars for privacy by design while implementing data architecture
Privacy by design is a concept that was first developed in 1995, and the framework was published in 2009. It focused on incorporating privacy in every mode of operation and aims to ensure privacy and control over an individual’s information.
There are seven significant pillars of privacy by design:
- The first is being proactive, which can help anticipate and prevent privacy-invasive events before they happen.
- The second is privacy as the default, which ensures that personal data is automatically protected in any given system or business practice.
- The third is privacy embedded into the design, in which measures are embedded into the design and architecture of systems and business practices from the beginning.
- The fourth is full functionality, where we try to seek all the legitimate interests and objectives.
- Fifth is the end-to-end security, complete life cycle protection in this case. Strong security measures should be embedded from the beginning till the end.
- Sixth is visibility and transparency, assuring all stakeholders that information can be readily provided.
- The seventh and last essential pillar is respect for user privacy. You need to ensure that the interests of the individuals are considered.
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