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As FGS’s Chief Information Security Officer, Timo is responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing our own information security program, to protect FGS’s communications, systems and assets from both internal and external threats. Here, he discusses the importance of information security and how Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help.
Information security is one of the most important challenges in the digital world. Numerous security incidents in recent years have shown that information security is still not given the importance it should have in many areas. Whether it’s through carelessness or a hacker attack, the consequences can be drastic:
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help minimize information security risks by reducing or even eliminating human errors, increasing the accuracy of detection and eliminating unauthorized access.
Virtual robots mimic the operation of applications that would normally be operated by human employees. The risk of human error is removed as the bots aren’t affected by any of the normal human emotions, stresses and strains that sometimes allow us to make mistakes – Convenience, Stress, Misunderstandings, Subjectively falsified decisions etc.
We’ll explore some of these below.
Convenience
A virtual robot doesn’t care how often it should change its password. It doesn’t forget passwords and it can use complex passwords that most humans could never remember because of their complexity and length. A virtual robot is also immune to social engineering because it cannot be influenced by social interaction.
Secure environment
The environment of an RPA process can be tailored to the needs of the automated applications: a robot can only operate the applications that are installed on the operating system. For example, it would never use a private USB stick that might contain viruses. RPA environments can be strictly separated from each other. In this way, well-thought-out planning can effectively prevent test data from being accidentally used in production systems – and vice versa.
Overload
RPA processes are handled much faster by robots than a human employee could. People who are stressed by high workloads tend to downplay or ignore incorrect actions. Such human errors can have serious consequences. Virtual robots can measure their performance and proactively report when their resources are running low.
Data protection
A virtual robot cannot carelessly blurt out confidential information during lunch or leave sensitive documents in the airport lounge during the rush of a business trip. Where data privacy is a major concern, RPA processes can run in environments with varying levels of security, reducing data sharing to the absolute minimum required. When it comes to safeguarding information requests under strict data protection laws such as the GDPR, virtual robots can quickly compile relevant data to meet statutory deadlines.
Application testing
RPA not only serves to automate business processes but also supports the testing of applications. In software testing, it is essential to make test results comparable. At the same time, robots can be programmed so robustly that weaknesses in the software are not only detected but also reliably reported to developers.
Information security and privacy
RPA can not only help increase the speed and efficiency of business processes, it can also help digitized companies face and master the challenges of information security and data protection.
As businesses add more systems, technologies, programs and networks to their stack and create even bigger mountains of data, securing it is more important than ever. RPA offers many advantages for businesses looking to drive next level digitalization.
